DON’T LET THE Irresponsible Minority DESTROY THE UK VAPING INDUSTRY

cigarettes than ever before. But even the first-hand accounts of former smokers, who say that vaping has given them their lives back, fails to curb enthusiasm to damage the sector.

And while we can’t silence the antivaping lobby, we absolutely must stop giving it ammunition to use against us.

I know how hard UKVIA members work to be ambassadors for vaping and to ensure the products they manufacture, distribute and sell are as risk-free as possible, fully comply with the law and are only aimed at adult smokers.

Let’s just focus on the issue of youth vaping, because unless we get this under control, then the current light touch regulation could be replaced with something very different indeed with detrimental effects on the entire industry.

A wide variety of flavours are vital to ensuring that former smokers don’t revert to cigarettes and - with scientific studies to back up this fact –this is an argument we can win. But if rogue players keep peddling products which look like children’s

Words: John Dunne, Director General, UKVIA

One of the biggest ironies about the vape industry is that the more it is shown to do good, the more it is attacked and demonised. Even when a recent Office of National Statistics report revealed that vaping played a ‘major role’ in bringing UK smoking rates to their lowest levels since records began, the attacks didn’t die down…if anything they grew more intense.

The problem is that there is a lot of vaping misinformation out there and the main thrust of this is that vaping is supposedly a very bad thing indeed. You might have thought the fact that vaping is 20 times less harmful than smoking would make the critics think twice about their desire to attack the industry.

Especially when that same industry is helping more smokers give up toys or feature colourful cartoon characters - and believe me, they are out there - then nobody will listen to the fact that vaping helps adult smokers quit.

Our members represent all sectors of the industry and I know that they go to great lengths to ensure that vaping is seen in the best possible light so that it can fulfil its potential to help make Britain truly smoke-free. Rarely does the mainstream media report on all the good that vaping does, but as soon as one irresponsible company puts a foot wrong then the whole industry is demonised and brought into disrepute.

The UK has got one of the most pro-vaping regulatory regimes in the world and this has allowed the industry to flourish.

One need only look at the UKVIAcommissioned Economic Impact Report into the UK vaping industry to appreciate this, (see my column in the last issue of Vapouround Magazine for more details on this).

But we must not allow ourselves to fall into a false sense of security and think this will never change.

The narrative will be that the industry deliberately targets kids and the emotional impact this has on parents, regulators and politicians could be enough to drown out any other argument about how good vaping is. And we don’t need a crystal ball to see how this could play out. All we need to do is look to America where the damage has already been done and the vape industry has been brought to its knees.

Youth vaping in America is at a threeyear low, but the media constantly reports that the US remains in the grip of a frightening youth vaping epidemic.

Politicians have discovered that they can boost their approval ratings by ramping up the fearmongering to further terrify already worried parents who believe what they see on the nightly news.

The same could happen here. Once a moral panic over youth vaping reaches a critical mass, even provaping politicians may fear they could lose the support of their electorate unless they oppose this life-saving technology.

In fact, it is already starting to happen.

The Scottish Green Party is asking retailers to treat sweet flavoured vapes just like cigarettes and hide them from public view over fears that they appeal to young people.

The party’s health spokesperson Gillian Mackay claims that the industry is deliberately targeting young people and is touting the idea that a vape flavour ban is needed to protect children from vaping.

The vast majority of manufacturers, suppliers, distributers and retailers go to huge lengths to ensure that vape products do not get into the hands of under 18s, but people will believe emotional propaganda like this, even where not a shred of evidence is offered.

As an industry we must redouble our efforts to stamp out youth vaping and make it abundantly clear that we will not tolerate those who target young people.

They have no place in our industry and we must be united in our opposition against this irresponsible minority.