RETAILERS have been tested in an operation to clamp down on underage vape sales over the summer holidays.
Cumberland Council’s Trading Standards Service has been running a test purchasing operation over the last 10 days – resulting in around 83 per cent of businesses refusing to sell to underage teens.
Results varied by city or town, with retailers in Whitehaven refusing sales in 100 per cent of cases and retailers in Maryport refusing only 34 per cent of the test sales.
Number of underage test sales refused per city or town:
- Whitehaven – 100 percent.
- Carlisle and Wigton – 92 per cent.
- Workington – 62 percent.
- Maryport – 34 percent.
There are strict laws on nicotine vaping products, and it is a criminal offence to sell them to persons under the age of 18 years or purchase them on their behalf. Traders found to be breaking these rules risk being prosecuted and fined up to £2,500.
Disposable e-cigarettes can be appealing to under-18s due to their flavours and bright colours.
E-cigarettes may contain nicotine which is highly addictive and young people who use these may be encouraged to take up smoking in the future.
The latest data from the ASH-Youth 2022 survey of 11- to 18-year-olds in England show that:
- Current vaping prevalence (including occasional and regular vaping) was 8.6 per cent in 2022, compared with 4 per cent in 2021 and 4.8 per cent in 2020.
- The use of disposable vaping products has increased substantially, with 52.8 per cent of current vapers using them in 2022, compared with 7.8 per cent in 2021 and 5.3 per cent in 2020.
The Trading Standards team has also seen a steep increase in harmful, non-compliant, products on sale in shops and supports government proposals to crack down on the sales of e-cigarettes to under 18s. These include preventing advertisers targeting children and not allowing retailers to give free samples of vapes to children. There will also be a review into banning sales of nicotine free vapes to under 18s and a review of the rules on issuing fines to retailers that illegally sell e-cigarettes to children.
Colin Cox, Director of Public Health and Communities, said: “Our trading standards officers work proactively with local businesses to ensure they have the appropriate training and test purchasing logs in place and that they’re aware of the law.
“It is a criminal offence to sell nicotine-based e-cigarettes to under 18s and investigations will continue into the people and businesses who sold the products to our underage volunteers.
“We would like to thank our Local Focus Hubs and the police for sharing intelligence regarding retailers suspected of selling vapes to under-18s. We’d also like to thank our partners, and parents, for sharing any complaints or concerns.
“We have run multiple test purchasing operations during the summer holidays and we will continue to work with businesses to ensure they remain on the right side of the law and to hold repeated rule breakers accountable.”
Residents can call Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133 or email trading.standards@cumberland.gov.uk if they have any concerns regarding underage sales.