Riot Labs has on Tuesday called on Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT) to back its alternative approach to vape regulation, as the government’s consultation enters its final days.
The call follows an open letter being circulated by ASH and NCSCT calling on ministers to implement the proposed restrictions on tobacco, vape and nicotine product packaging, appearance and display “in full”.
Riot argues that the proposals risk making vaping appear too similar to smoking to consumers, while failing to address what it sees as weak enforcement of existing age-of-sale rules.
The intervention also highlights a wider debate around the role of retailers and consumers in the consultation, after ASH warned that “some vape industry and consumer groups” were mobilising opposition through the SaveVaping campaign.
What ASH has said
ASH’s consultation guide encourages public health professionals, members of the public and young people to respond to the consultation, which closes at 11.59pm on Friday (2 October).
The charity's guidance supports restrictions including plain white packaging, limits on device colours and promotional features, restrictions on flavour descriptions and keeping vape and nicotine products out of sight.
However, the guide also acknowledges that a total display ban could treat nicotine products in the same way as tobacco and “risks undermining the role of vapes for smoking cessation”. It nevertheless advises respondents to “Select agree to all questions”.
The ASH guide also references an Asian Trader report on proposed vape flavour rules and their potential impact on adult vapers.
Riot's response
Riot says the apparent tension between the concerns over vaping misperceptions and the proposed restrictions is why it is calling on ASH and NCSCT to reconsider their approach.
Ben Johnson, chief executive of Riot Labs, said: “ASH is right that confusion about vaping is stopping smokers from quitting, so why on earth is it backing plans that make vapes look and sell like cigarettes?”
He added that specialist vape shops would have to hide their products despite being premises where under-18s are not permitted.
“What protects children is checking the shops that sell to them, and shutting down the ones that do,” Johnson said. “Right now that barely happens.”
Riot also pointed to its own Freedom of Information research showing that shops capable of selling vapes to children are checked for underage sales about once every 11 years.
What Riot is proposing
Riot is calling on ASH and NCSCT to support a four-part approach which it says would protect children without discouraging adult smokers from switching.
It wants:
- every shop selling vapes to be licensed, with licences removed from retailers caught selling to children;
- a legal minimum frequency for underage test purchases, similar to the existing approach for food hygiene;
- a ban on cartoons, sweet names and toy-like designs aimed at children; and
- licensed, adult-only specialist vape shops to retain their displays, as specialist tobacconists do under the proposed rules.
Riot says it supports the proposed restrictions on child-oriented designs and flavour names, but argues that adult-only specialist shops should be treated differently from general retail.
The company also points to ASH research showing that 61 per cent of smokers who have never vaped now believe vaping is as harmful as smoking or more harmful, compared with 27 per cent in 2019.
Johnson said Riot was not trying to hide its position as a vaping company.
“We're the industry, and we've never pretended otherwise,” he said. “We're a vape company asking the government to license the shops that sell our products, and to take that licence away from anyone who sells to a child.”
He added that the NCSCT itself tells stop-smoking services to work with local vape shops, but argued that those shops should not have to hide their products from adult smokers seeking help.
NCSCT's position
The NCSCT, which sent out the open letter, has previously published guidance encouraging stop-smoking services to consider working with local vape shops.
According to Riot's release, the NCSCT guidance says specialist vape shops are more likely to have accurate knowledge and have too much to lose by selling inappropriate or illicit products. Riot argues that requiring such shops to hide their products would be inconsistent with that role.
In an email accompanying the open letter, NCSCT chief executive Andy McEwen said the proposals were “under attack from aggressive tobacco and nicotine industry lobbying” and that “public health expertise, not commercial interest” should drive government policy.
Riot has responded by emphasising that it is a vaping company and therefore has a commercial interest, while arguing that its proposed licensing and enforcement measures should be assessed on their merits.
Consumer voice
The ASH consultation advice has also prompted criticism from the New Nicotine Alliance (NNA), which has argued that consumers should be treated as legitimate stakeholders in discussions over tobacco and nicotine policy.
The NNA said there was “something deeply wrong” with the way consumers are treated in the debate, arguing that a consumer who opposes a proposed restriction does not become an industry lobbyist simply because a manufacturer may share the same view.
“ASH and other organisations are perfectly entitled to oppose vaping, support tighter restrictions or advocate whatever policies they believe are appropriate. But they should not be allowed to define the boundaries of legitimate participation,” the consumer group, which launched the SaveVaping campaign in response to the consultation, noted.
The consultation closes at 11.59pm on Friday 2 October.