Scottish Disposable Madness

This story came to my attention recently which, as I’m sure you’ll agree, is just the tip of a very nasty iceberg. Y’see, the Scottish Green MSP mentioned in the last bout of reporting (Gillian Mackay MSP) is just but the last in a long line if antagonists seeking to effectively ban the humble disposable vape.

Join me as we discover just how deep this rabbit-hole goes.

Back in September, the Scottish Government – specifically the Health & Social Care department – published the results of a public consultation, snappily entitled Vaping products – tightening rules on advertising and promoting: consultation analysis.

Now, unless I’ve been living in a completely different place to the rest of you, the rules on advertising of tobacco and related products is defined – rather stringently – in, shock, the Tobacco & Related Products Regulations (2016). This piece of legislation is, of course, the domestic implementation of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD2) and, for the purposes of this piece, we’re looking at Part 7 of the domestic implementation.

Advertising is, of course, something that has been discussed many times on this site (here, here and here to highlight but a few) and those of you familiar with the UK legislation know full well the restrictions in place and how, more often than not, the ASA will prevent ads being shown on the grounds of just a single complaint (usually by the zealots).

It turns out that the consultation results were mixed, which of course means the Scottish Government will proceed to do what they want – which is add more restrictions (on top of the restrictive TRPR) and seek bans. Which is, of course, precisely what is now happening with the commentary from the Scottish Greens.

Following the usual “welcoming” noises from ASH Scotland, the Chief Exec – Sheila Duffy – has made the usual claims of a “significant rise in children and young people using disposable vapes”. I don’t know about you, but I’ve not found any evidence to support this claim other than “news” stories. The only mention of youth vaping data I can find is the “Growing Up in Scotland” study which had its initial findings published in February which suggested 21.5% of respondants (n=2797) have either tried or currently use e-cigarettes. Sadly, it isn’t clear if this data is the latest in a set (as with the ONS or Smoking Toolkit) or if it is just a one-off.

Of course, and it really needn’t be said but I have to say it anyway – I do not support young people taking up vaping if they do not already smoke. I do support young people vaping if they already smoke or would be inclined to smoke. However, that being said, as a libertarian I don’t have strong views either way.

What is interesting in this data is that, out of the 441 that “ever smoked”, 69.1% of them don’t smoke now having ever tried an e-cigarette. I see that as a good thing (in public health terms).

Now, you’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. Y’see, let me ask you this:

What is the easiest way for a smoking youth to try an e-cig? (or a youth inclined towards “risky” behaviour)

If you said “disposable vapes” then give yourself a gold star. Disposable vape products haven’t been around all that long. The previous incarnation was/is the “pod”. Now we have products like the Elf Bar and Geek Vape (both of which The Wife reviewed so, let’s call that a CoI statement) that are truly disposable products.

A set amount of liquid in a sealed device with a battery and mouthpiece. Most of these types of products are good for ~600 puffs (which, at the nicotine level of 20mg approximates a pack of smokes). I tried a few of them and the flavours are much better than I expected (as was the experience). They are also cheaper to buy than a pack of 20. Which is one significant motivating factor for folk to try them out.

What is interesting is the framing of Gillian Mackay MSP and her cohorts:

She said there is growing concern that the number of under-age people being attracted by “deliberately sweet-toothed tactics” used to market the products is spiralling.

The National

Now, for those of you in the UK, Mackay here is likening the flavoured vaping products with the disaster that was Alcopops. Which, as I’m sure you’ll be unsurprised to discover, wasn’t as bad as they made it out to be. Y’see, restrictive age of sale legislation was already in place and for many retailers this was enough to not have the youth buying the stuff. Of course, that isn’t to say that it didn’t (and doesn’t) happen – particularly in smaller, busier shops. But, for the most part, the youth weren’t able to buy. It’s the same principle here with the disposable vapes (and other flavoured vapes as Mackay is a flavour-banner).

Riding on the back of the consultation, Mackay and Duffy are pressuring shops that sell e-cigs (mostly aimed at supermarkets and convenience stores, not dedicated vaping B&M) to “act responsibly and voluntarily to ensure such blatant marketing campaigns are unable to cause harm by restricting their product placement”.

As the shenanigans post-tobacco-display-ban are well known, any costs for stores to “voluntarily” hide vaping products would be bourne, initially, by the store but – as we all know – that cost will need to be recouped somehow and, of course, the easiest method is to stick a few pence or a couple of quid on the selling price so that, in the end, the consumer pays. They always do.

Now, for the most part, many of the stores I have been into (including petrol stations) generally have vaping products alongside the tobacco counter (where dedicated space is available) or at the counter itself and you have to ask for them. So the “call for a ban on flavours and removal of these items from open display” is not welcome. At all.

This is just the latest in a long line of authoritarianism in Scotland (who are proud of “leading the way”) and, as I’ve mentioned many, many, many times bans do not work. If such legislation passes (which I doubt as I think that such legislative action is not devolved – happy to be corrected on that) it’ll push flavours (and disposables) onto the black market, and we’ve seen how that turns out.

While there is an environmental case to be made against disposable vapes, that is more of an education problem – i.e. information on proper disposal – than a health problem. As for flavours, well ask any vaper about that and they’ll tell you that flavours are a key part of why vaping works for them.

Why can’t these people just leave us alone?

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