The Future of Vaping Policy

“Following Labour’s landslide victory, there has been a near unprecedented change in the number of Members of Parliament. Of the members of the APPG for Responsible Vaping, the only person who will remain as a member of Parliament (of the 15 MP that were members of this group) is Mary Glindon,” says the UK Vaping Industry Association.

Writing on Twitter/X, the UK Vaping Industry Association welcomed Mary Glindon’s re-election. Moreover, the organisation was delighted that she called on the Government “to engage with the vaping industry in the delivery of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.”

The new Government included a pledge to reintroduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in the King’s Speech.

“We are watching closely to see exactly what form the legislation is likely to take. While the Bill may not be a high priority matter for the new Government, it is possible that the Cabinet Office will advise that this bill is progressed with quickly to get it off their work programme,” the UK Vaping Industry Association said.

To support its efforts, the Association has released a policy briefing document: “The Future of Vaping Policy to Support a Smokefree Britain”, designed to brief new MPs and the new Government.

Last month, the Independent British Vape Trade Association released a manifesto for the independent vape industry to inform the new government about the importance of evidence-based decision making.

The Independent British Vape Trade Association said: “The IBVTA’s Responsible Vaping Manifesto neatly and succinctly sets out the vape sector’s asks and what the next government should ensure. The IBVTA is intent on working collaboratively with the new Government to ensure that vaping policy, law and regulation is developed in a way which ultimately achieves the shared objectives of reducing youth vaping, while recognising, and not disproportionately impacting the proven role of vaping in supporting adult smoking cessation.”

The organisation says it is calling on the government to ensure that:

1. Vaping must be treated differently than smoking
2. Potential health benefits must be recognised and embraced
3. Flavours are vitally important to adults
4. Regulation of single-use vapes must align with public health
5. The illicit market can only be challenged with a radical rethink in policy
6. The tax burden on vapes should balance relative harm to smoking

Gillian Golden, IBVTA’s CEO said: “Every political party needs to take into consideration the massive opportunity that vaping represents in terms of improving public health. In England alone, research points to vapes having helped in the region of 30,000 to 50,000 additional smokers to successfully quit each year since 2013.”

Marcus Saxton, IBVTA Chair, added: “At this key time in the political calendar, we believe that our up-to-date industry expertise, research and knowledge can be of material value to informing future policy and proportionate regulation and ensuring societal gain.”

Photo Credit:

• Photo by Deniz Fuchidzhiev on Unsplash

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV

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Dave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.