This petition is about changing the laws to ban single-use vaping products to protect our children from nicotine addiction. As a youth worker, since 1965 I have had an interest in drug addiction, after working in Harlem in New York with heroin addicts. I have served on the board of Scottish Drugs Forum, Scotland’s biggest drugs charity for over 21 years, working with others to change government’s views and policies on all drugs of addiction, tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs and now vaping. Young people collaborated with me to win two UK health education awards for our work on alcohol and drugs education.

There are several problems about affecting law changes. The first is that only the UK government can change the  drug laws. Our Westminster governments of all political persuasions, have refused to make any changes, instead always following the failed American solutions, seeing illicit drugs as a criminal issue. Even our drugs education policy came from Nancy Regan’s, failed “Just Say No” campaign. We had our failed SAD campaign “Scotland Against Drugs” sad by name and affect. 

Secondly smoking and tobacco, massive tax contributors are not considered to be drugs, they raised  £10bn from smoking and £12.2bn in 2022/23.  

Scotland did lead the way on banning smoking in public and the Minimum Pricing of Alcohol. There may be scope for us to also lead on banning vaping by children. 

I ask again for supports of this petition to get as many friends and colleagues as possible to sign the petition, add your comments and ideas and encourage children and young people to do so also. Over  23,000 have visited this petition and 824 signed it already. We can win this one.