PM Rishi Sunak has announced that disposable-single use vapes will be banned, which sounds like a victory for the thousands of us who have been supporting this petition, to achieve that end. However, I have no intention of closing this petition yet, because in the forty years I have seen been campaigning, on drug misuse problems affecting children, experience has taught me that great intentions by politicians are often seriously watered down in the process of creating the legislation.

I have particular concerns that the PM has said that his government will consult with the vaping industry about how to implement this. That is a sure recipe for interference by that industry to ensure that they can keep in business for as long as possible, and that they will be affected as little as possible. Big-tobacco and the powerful vaping industry that the mainly own, are known to be one of the biggest group of lobbyists active on an almost daily basis in the Westminster parliament. They even had the gall to make a £350,000 donation to the Conservative Party last year. 

The vaping industry lobby have for months been putting out scare stories claiming that the ban will increase the illegal vaping market to target even more children. That is nonsense because if children were note vaping there would be no demand for legal or illegal vapes. The same lobby group are also saying that adult users of disposable vapes to quit smoking will be badly affected. Again utter nonsense as disposable single-use vapes are not recommended by the medical profession as a tool to quitting smoking.

I am concerned too that taking a year to introduce this ban will mean that thousands more children will come addicted to nicotine, and the harm from other substances now being found in all vapes. This legislation must be given the highest possible priority in the parliament, and should be done and dusted before a general election.

We must also put in place plans to supported several hundred thousand children, already addicted to nicotine from vaping, to be offered support, counselling and the advise they need to quit, the nicotine addiction, they acquired from disposables, without returning to smoking or to E-cigarettes.

I APPEAL AGAIN TO ALL OF YOU TO PLEASE ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO SIGN THIS PETITION.