Education plan on dangers of vaping

Plymouth councillors are on a mission to stop young people taking up vaping

Twelve and 13-year-olds in Plymouth are to be taught about the dangers of vaping in the next school year.

It’s part of campaign to cut the habit among youngsters from the age of 11.

The city council is concerned about the rise in vaping and possible health risks, especially as other substances can be added to vapes.

Councillors also claim vaping is impacting young people’s behaviour, leading to more exclusions from school.

The authority has set up a vaping working group and additional funding for two full-time members of staff working with the Youth Service and Young People’s Treatment Service who will focus on vaping.

Vapes, or e-cigarettes, are safer than smoking tobacco, but are not considered risk free. They contain nicotine, which is addictive.

The legal age for buying vapes is 18, but surveys reveal a growing number of 11 to 18 year olds using them. Cigarette smoking though continues to fall, in Plymouth and nationally, as e-cigarettes grow in popularity.

A questionnaire by the Plymouth branch of the UK Youth Parliament, sent out through schools to gather information from young people, received 524 responses in three weeks.

An all-time low of around one in 17 children aged 15 in Plymouth currently smokes.

Plymouth City Council Trading Standards’ team provides advice and uses teenagers to try to buy age-restricted products in shops to test whether they are complying with the law. The team also tests the quality and safety of e-cigarettes and e-liquids.

Their work has included a workshop with health and youth service partners and making contact with schools.  The council’s health and wellbeing board was told that some schools were more engaged in having conversations than others. Some schools have vaping smoke alarms in the toilets, now it is not known how effective they are.

Plymouth councillor Terri Beer (Ind, Plympton Erle) who raised concerns about the increase in vaping several months ago at a city council meeting said she is pleased with the work being done.

She welcomed the government’s plan to stop vapes and other nicotine products from being designed to appeal to children.

“There are two vapes shops in my ward and it’s like walking into a sweet shop with all the flavours and colours. Hopefully we will get a clearer picture of the impact vapes are having, not just on children, but on adults as well. I want to make sure that everyone in Plymouth is healthy.

A study in 2014 showed that those who attempted to quit smoking using e-cigarettes but with no other support were around 60 per cent more successful than those who used no aids. But people who used over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy [NRT] with no support are no more likely to quit than those who go cold turkey.

The government is to progressively increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes and impose limits on the sales and marketing of vapes. Under the proposed Tobacco and Vapes bill, people born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be able to be sold cigarettes.