“Sweet flavour leads to a bitter habit.” – Asthma specialist backs Government’s plans to make vapes less appealing to young people
An asthma expert at Birmingham Children’s Hospital has backed new plans to restrict children’s access to vapes.
Dr Prasad Nagakumar, Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician, has welcomed the Government’s proposed restrictions, which would introduce plain packaging, limit flavour names and keep vapes out of sight in shops, to stop them being marketed to children.
Dr Nagakumar said: “Vaping now regularly comes up in our clinics, mostly with teenagers, but sometimes with younger children too. We see coughs that won’t go away, wheezing, and asthma in young people that becomes harder to control, and we see addiction. Teenagers tell us that they can’t stop. Vaping is now a routine question in every teenage consultation, just like smoking used to be.
“Vapes contain chemicals, including nicotine, which a young brain can get hooked on fast. Vaping is linked to coughing, wheezing, asthma attacks and can mean some go on to smoke cigarettes. Illegal vapes can contain heavy metals and far more nicotine than is allowed, which is harmful for a young person’s lungs. We simply do not know the long-term effects of vaping on growing lungs. Young lungs are not for testing; children shouldn’t be the experiment.”
The proposed restrictions would also extend to other nicotine products, including nicotine pouches and non-nicotine vapes. They would also make it illegal for adults to buy products with the aim of giving them to children.
Dr Nagakumar added: “Vapes are made to look fun, they are brightly coloured and have many flavours like cotton candy and bubblegum and they are easy to get. They’re all over social media, and we understand that kids pass them around. A lot of young people think that they’re harmless. It’s not candy, it contains harmful chemicals, but unfortunately, it can be packaged to look like candy.
“I welcome the new restrictions. Plain packaging worked for cigarettes, and research with British teenagers shows that plain packs make vapes less appealing to young people without putting off adult smokers who use them to quit. Out of sight means out of mind. If you smoke, switching to a vape helps. But if you’re a child, don’t vape. Sweet flavour leads to a bitter habit. It’s not harmless, and it’s not for children.”