A new government scheme to encourage smokers to swap cigarettes for vapes has been welcomed by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).
The plan was one of the measures announced by health minister Neil O’Brien on Tuesday April 11 to help the government meet its smoke-free 2030 target.
Key measures announced include:
- · about one million smokers will be encouraged to swap cigarettes for vapes under the “swap to stop” scheme;
- · pregnant women will be offered financial incentives to help them quit;
- · a crackdown on underage and illicit vape sales to stop children taking up the habit.
The swap to stop scheme will provide almost one in five smokers in England with a vape starter kit alongside behavioural support to help them quit smoking.
There will also be a crackdown on illicit vape sales as part of measures to stop children and non-smokers from taking up the habit.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “We strongly welcome this course of action from government, harnessing the potential for vaping to accelerate the decline in smoking rates, and it’s encouraging that the government are committing new resource and some innovative approaches to make this happen.
“We are encouraged by ministers recognising the need to ensure that the vaping market operates properly, which means that only legal product reaches retailers and consumers, and only adults can buy these products. The stronger focus on enforcement, backed by greater resources at a local level, is the right way to achieve this. Our members will welcome and embrace more enforcement activity and our guidance, on recognising legal products and implementing the widely recognised and robust Challenge25 policy to avoid under age sales, is freely available for all retailers to use.
“We will continue to work with the Department for Health & Social Care and trading standards departments to make this approach work.”
O’Brien also launched a call for evidence on youth vaping which aims to reduce the number of children accessing and using vape products and explore how the government can act on this.
ACS has developed guidance to enable retailers to recognise legitimate products, as well as the age verification policies that should be in place to ensure that products are only sold to those who are legally allowed to purchase them. The full guidance is available here.
