Member

On Amendment 144, we have had a pretty lively and interesting debate. My noble friend Lord Moylan hit on a very subtle but important point in the psychology that surrounds the marketing and sale of vapes. There is a dichotomy: we want access to vapes as a valuable way of moving smokers away from cigarettes, but we do not want vapes to be accessed by children and young people as cool recreational toys. We know that vape flavours play an important part in encouraging smokers to quit but we also know that certain names given to vape flavours are more likely than others to entice the young. Bubblegum flavour is typically cited as an example; no doubt “mango ice” is another. My noble friend Lord Moylan was spot on: whether or not a vape tastes like bubblegum is beside the point; the name itself is an enticement.