Vaping in the UK: Latest updates

In the U.K., there are minimal restrictions. You can promote vaping in movie theaters, outdoor ads, trade shows, and retail magazines. Not on TV and in “national” publications: they can be seen by children and people from other EU countries. Liquids and vape devices are not subject to special taxes. There is no mandatory certification either.

Tobacco Products Directive (abbreviated TPD) is a list of mandatory provisions and general recommendations regarding tobacco. EU member states are obliged to comply with it. In 2016, e-cigarettes were included in the TPD. Mandatory requirements: a maximum tank volume of 2 ml, retail nicotine concentration allowed – 20 mg/ml, the maximum container volume for liquid – 10 ml. TPD prohibits sales to minors and advertising that could potentially cross-national borders.

All products sold in the country must meet consumer product requirements, added ViVA la Cloud senior manager of British American Tobacco Sudhanshu Patwardhan. According to him, it is enough to submit the product specification to the relevant department – Medicine and Healthcare Product Regulatory Agency. Each item is assigned a code. It is recorded in the TPD register and printed on the package.

According to the new decision of the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, British doctors will be able to prescribe electronic cigarettes to patients who want to quit smoking, Vice reports. The decision was made due to the fact that vaping products, although not completely safe, are less harmful to the body than regular cigarettes.

The popularity of vaping in the UK

Another popular reason for vaping is that many people use it to fight nicotine addiction. Vaping preserves the psychological effect of the habit, but the person can control the puff strength and pump the vape juice he or she likes better. When the first discomfort after quitting tobacco passes, you can gradually reduce the nicotine level in the refill. Also, vaping is safe for the environment. There are no ashes or cigarette butts left behind from vaping, which are bad for the environment. Since the vapor is water-based, it disperses quickly.

There are several other advantages of giving up regular cigarettes in favor of a vape:

  • No unpleasant odor;
  • No heavy breathing or coughing;
  • no risk of poisoning the body;
  • Improvement of the work of the receptors and the sense of smell.

Buying a vape is a good decision for those who want to give up tobacco without harming the nervous system. There is no feeling of irritability and increased appetite, which is often found in those who give up the bad habit. To “enter” into vaping comfortably, it is worth buying simple, compact devices to begin with.

Sad statistic

Every year, 64,000 people in the country die from the effects of smoking. Shapiro notes that the doctor’s recommendation will help convince patients to switch to fewer toxic products. There are now more than 6 million adult smokers and 3.6 million vape users in Britain, with tobacco use in poor neighborhoods three times higher than in affluent areas. The U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid believes that state-level approval of vaping will help eliminate disparities in smoking and allow people to beat tobacco addiction, regardless of their background or where they live.

In July, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, called vaping harmful, addictive, and appealing to children to smoke. In response, Professor John Britton of Nottingham University said that the WHO still does not understand the fundamental difference “between tobacco addiction, which kills millions of people every year, and nicotine use, which is not fatal. Every country regulates vaping differently: e-cigarettes are banned in Singapore, while in the U.S. they are equated with tobacco and people are fined for smoking in inappropriate places.