Two Scottish charities are calling on general election candidates to back their new campaign that would put an end to smoking products being promoted to children and young people.
ASH Scotland, a charity that campaigns against the use of products manufactured by tobacco companies, and Asthma + Lung UK, a charity that raises awareness of respiratory disease, have both made the plea ahead of the General Election on July 4.
They’re urging General Election candidates standing in Scottish constituencies to support their campaign calling for the end of vape advertising and marketing being targeted at children and young people.
The campaign aligns with World No Tobacco Day 2024, which is marked on Friday 31 May.
The health charities want General Election candidates in Scotland to join their calls to specifically stop the marketing of sweet-flavoured, brightly coloured vapes and their promotion by organisations funded by tobacco firms targeting young people.
Candidates in Scotland are also being asked to pledge to uphold the UK’s commitment to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 5.3, a global health treaty, by committing not to speak with tobacco or vaping companies about health policies, either before or after the election.
Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive of ASH Scotland, said: “In supporting WHO’s World No Tobacco Day 2024 campaign in Scotland, we are speaking out against the predatory tobacco industry marketing tactics promoting vapes and creating a new wave of addiction.
“Tobacco industry promotions have lured young people into starting to use their addictive products for decades and, in recent years, the same is now happening with vapes and we’re urging General Election candidates to support our campaign to stop the targeting of marketing aimed at children and young people.”
In the run-up to World No Tobacco Day 2024, WHO and the global tobacco industry watchdog STOP have published a new report titled ‘Hooking the next generation: how the tobacco industry captures young customers’.
The paper puts a spotlight on how the tobacco and nicotine industry designs products, implements marketing campaigns, and works to influence health policy environments to help them get young people addicted to their products.
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It also highlights a lack of policies in place from governments, which would help reduce tobacco use and nicotine addiction, as well as weak and poorly implemented policies that big tobacco can often work around.
Their suggested solution would be to have all governments implement the WHO guidelines from article 5.3 around cross-border tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and the depiction of tobacco in entertainment media.
Other measures the report puts forward include raising prices and taxes on consumer tobacco and nicotine products to make them less affordable for children and youth.
Joseph Carter, Head of Asthma + Lung UK Scotland said: “The high rates of youngsters vaping in Scotland is concerning. It is illegal to sell vapes to under 18s, and we strongly discourage non-smokers, especially children, from starting vaping. It is crucial the government takes action to prevent the vaping industry from marketing their products towards children.
“The power, influence, and money the tobacco and vaping industry have at their disposal to market their products is vast and far-reaching and we must continue to press the government to legislate against it and uphold the rules that are already in place. Our top priority is protecting the health of young people from the dangers of tobacco and preventing youngsters from starting to vape.
A recent survey by ASH showed children’s exposure to vape marketing is now at an all-time high, with youngsters overwhelmingly opting for fruit and dessert-flavoured vapes.
It showed that children in Great Britain are increasingly aware of vape marketing, including in shops and via social media sites such as TikTok and YouTube.
The 2024 poll of 2,587 children aged 11 to 17 found that 7.6% currently vape, the same proportion as last year, but up from 2.8% in 2017 and 0.8% in 2013.
As it stands, the Scottish Government is on track to ban the sale of single-use vapes from April 1, 2025. In March this year, the Scottish Government also backed a UK-wide legislation aimed at curbing vaping.
The legislation would mean youngsters born on or after January 1, 2009, will never legally be able to buy cigarettes. It also includes new powers to regulate the display, contents, flavours, and packaging of vapes and nicotine products.
Minister for Public Health, Jenni Minto, said at the time there was “overwhelming support” for the ban on single-use vapes in Scotland.
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