The Government will shortly publish legislation, which will ban the sale of vaping products to those under 18. The Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill was approved by Cabinet today, and is expected to be enacted in July. The Bill includes wide-ranging measures to tackle smoking and vaping among those aged under 18 years and all adults and includes measures to prevent children and young adults from taking up vaping.
The Bill will:
In making the announcement, Minister Donnelly said; “research tells us that vaping among adolescents increases the likelihood that they will later smoke. Our Bill is designed to intervene at each phase of the process through which these products are sold.”
He also said the Bill will “introduce a strict licensing system for the retail sale of tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products with powers to suspend and revoke those licences for contraventions of tobacco control law. Finally, we will give our Environmental Health Service additional powers to ensure compliance with these laws.”
However, the Irish Heart Foundation has warned the legislation does not go far enough and has called for a complete ban on all e-cigarette flavours and disposable vapes.
“We need a full ban on all e-cigarettes flavours, except tobacco, and a complete prohibition of all forms of advertising, including online influencers promoting vaping products,” Chris Macey, Director of Advocacy and Patient Support with the Irish Heart Foundation said.
He also called for a ban on the sale of disposable vapes, the introduction of plain packaging for vaping, and the increase of the legal age of all tobacco and e-cigarette products from 18 to 21.
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