| answer text |
<p>Smoking is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom
and causes approximately one in four cancer deaths. It also costs our country £17
billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service. That is why
we will introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in this parliamentary session to create
the first smokefree generation and crack down on youth vaping</p><p><br> In October
2023, the Government and devolved administrations launched a public consultation on
the smokefree generation and youth vaping. For the smokefree generation policy, where
tobacco products would not be sold to those who turned 15 years old or younger this
year, the consultation included a question on whether respondents agreed with the
proposed approach to mirror the existing age of sale legislation in England and Wales.
This included:</p><p>- cigarettes;</p><p>- cigarette papers;</p><p>- hand rolled tobacco;</p><p>-
cigars;</p><p>- cigarillos;</p><p>- pipe tobacco;</p><p>- waterpipe tobacco products,
for example, shisha;</p><p>- chewing tobacco;</p><p>- heated tobacco;</p><p>- nasal
tobacco; and</p><p>- herbal smoking products.</p><p>The consultation response will
be published shortly</p><p><br> As outlined in command paper published on 4 October
2023, our position is that all tobacco products are harmful, and the evidence is clear
that there is no safe level of tobacco consumption. Tobacco smoke from shisha and
cigars lead to the same types of diseases as cigarette smoke. Snus is banned in the
UK and we have no plans to introduce additional tobacco products to the UK market.</p><p>Vapes
are tobacco-free so outside the proposed scope of the smokefree generation policy.
In our consultation, we asked questions about policies which have the potential to
reduce the appeal, availability, and affordability of vaping to children. It is clear
that vaping is totally unsuitable for children. However, we want to ensure that vapes
remain available as a smoking cessation tool for adult smokers given the lesser harms
posed to smokers from vaping.</p>
|
|
