New Tobacco Control plan must ensure vape awareness, says Mark Pawsey

UK’s new Tobacco Control Plan must continue to “embrace vapes” for the benefit of smokers, Mark Pawsey MP- chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for vaping- said on Sunday (9), adding that the new plan must also ensure awareness on vaping and other alternatives.

One of the greatest hurdles in achieving the government’s ambition of becoming a smoke-free nation is lack of information on the many reduced-risk products available among those those who need it most, stated the MP, adding that there remain seven million smokers in the UK and “it seems likely that smoking rates increased in 2021”.

“What is now key is ensuring that information about these products reaches those who need it most, and in particular those living in areas of the country where smoking rates are highest. 

“With this in mind, I hope the new Tobacco Control Plan will permit manufacturers of vaping, and other products, to raise awareness of them.

Pawsey further added that it is very important that information about vaping and other alternatives should reach the right audience and one way to do so is to “communicate through inserts in cigarette packs”.

“The APPG would welcome such a move, which would provide smokers with the relevant information on what other, less harmful products, are available to them.

Raising questions on Office of National Statistics (ONS) data indicating that a million people had quit smoking during 2021, Pawsey stated in an article published in Express that the government must be led by real-life experiences and heavy smokers looking to quit should be aware and have easy access to other viable options.

“This means enabling smokers to access higher strength nicotine juices than are presently allowed to help enable them to make the switch to vaping where they cannot quit nicotine entirely,” wrote Pawsey.

“As well as vapes there are also other reduced-risk alternatives including SNUS, an oral tobacco product, and heat-not-burn non-combustible devices, so there are more products than ever now which exist to help smokers quit tobacco.”