Hansard

I thank everybody who has supported the motion and those who are taking part in the debate. I am really looking forward to all contributions.

I lodged the motion for a members’ business debate as a mother and as an elected representative with a genuine, deep concern for our children who are vaping. I believe that, as elected representatives, we have a moral duty to protect constituents where we can, and that the vaping of our children and young people is among the biggest health risks that our youth currently face.

In the past decade or so, vaping has grown significantly as an alternative option to smoking traditional cigarettes. There is a mindset that vaping or smoking electronic cigarettes is safer. We know that it is cheaper. Do not get me wrong: if vaping is a pathway for somebody to give up smoking, that is great, and I fully support that. My issue relates to our children who have never smoked and are taking up vaping as it is deemed to be safer than cigarettes. In my humble opinion, the marketing and advertising of vaping products is targeted at that generation.

Eighteen months ago, there were chocolate-coated nuts and snacks at the till at my local supermarket. Now there are colourful flavoured vapes. In another local supermarket, a huge display of colourful flavoured vapes has just appeared in the health aisle. There are vapes at the tills in pound shops. They are advertised everywhere.

A packet of 20 cigarettes is currently around £12. I can get a vape for £4. That is 600 puffs, which could be the equivalent of 45 cigarettes. Those vapes come in a wide selection of colours and flavours. I have been told that some teenagers co-ordinate their outfits with the colours of vapes. There are thousands of flavours online—watermelon, sweet cherry, banana ice, cherry cola and blueberry are just a few. There are too many flavours to name in this debate. If we had cigarettes with those flavours rather than with a tobacco taste 50 years ago, how popular would they be? We know now in hindsight that those cigarettes still hooked previous generations and caused harmful damage.

In the age of the internet, we have the likes of TikTok influencers showcasing their vape collections and teaching young viewers how to do their best vaping tricks. They make it a hobby and something fun. If anybody doubts that and has access to TikTok, they should do a search on “my first vape”.

Despite it being illegal to sell the devices to under-18s, research indicates a steep rise in underage vaping over the past five years. According to ASH Scotland, the proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds who say that they use e-cigarettes has doubled in the past 12 months alone. A new survey, which was conducted by Opinion Matters and was published by Asthma + Lung UK Scotland yesterday, shows that, in 1,000 responses, 85 per cent were concerned about young people vaping, 83 per cent were concerned about the use of vaping products by children and young people in schools, and 82 per cent were concerned about the marketing and promotion of vaping products to children and young people.

There have been claims that there is no evidence of young people taking up vaping, but we all have eyes, and we all see it. Ask the teachers and the kids. They will say exactly how many kids are vaping.

At the beginning of 2022, a freedom of information request by The Courier found that primary 3 children were caught bringing vapes into schools in Fife and Dundee. That is really worrying. I have also heard of primary school children finding used vapes on the ground and picking them up to see how many puffs are left.

Vaping is fairly new, and we do not have an analysis of its long-term impact on lungs. Those are adult lungs—we definitely do not have any analysis of its impact on developing young lungs. The World Health Organization believes that vaping devices are harmful to health and must be regulated. It has stated:

“the evidence is clear that the aerosols of the majority of”

vape products

“contain toxic chemicals, including nicotine and substances that can cause cancer.”

It has stated that their use is

“associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and lung disorders”.

An article in The BMJ stated that children with asthma who were exposed to second-hand vapour at home have a 30 per cent increased risk of an asthma attack. The researchers also pointed out that lung disease and, in the worst-case scenario, deaths have been reported in relation to vaping.

Vapes are not harmless. Behind the colours and the delicious flavours, there is nicotine. As we know, that is the addictive product. The issue is not only the damage done to the lungs of the next generation but the next generation being lured into nicotine addiction.

The problem of vaping and our youth exists not only in Scotland. It is a global concern, and we have seen countries around the world take action. Flavours in vapes’ e-liquids have been banned in Austria and Hungary. Lithuania and Finland have banned all flavours except tobacco. Denmark has banned all flavours except tobacco and menthol. Menthol-flavoured vapes are banned in Estonia, and flavours except tobacco have been banned in the Netherlands as of this month. There are also plans to ban flavours in Spain, Latvia, Slovakia and Ireland. It is interesting that China, which is the biggest global exporter of vapes, has banned flavours domestically in light of concerns about youth vaping, although it still exports flavours around the world.

I would like flavours to be banned from disposable vapes so that they are not as attractive to our younger generation. The minister is aware that I am exploring a member’s bill to pursue that. I welcome the fact that the Greens want disposable vapes to be banned, and the cabinet secretary has confirmed that there will be an environmental assessment of the impact of disposable vapes. However, serious consideration should be given to a health assessment of the impact on those in our younger generation who are vaping.

There are things that we can do to mitigate, such as banning disposable vapes or removing the flavours, but they will take time to go through the whole legislative process. We are talking about a crisis of our children’s health, and we must act now. We do not have time to waste.

There are things that the Scottish Government can do now within its legislative power. Through the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016, ministers have powers to restrict the domestic advertising of nicotine vapour products. Vapes could be placed alongside cigarettes, with promotions, flavours, colours and designs being out of view. That is one thing that we could do now to be proactive in protecting our kids.

As a country, we have come far in tackling smoking. We now have a moral obligation to protect our young people and not to undo all the progress that we have made. Across the chamber, regardless of our political colours, we need to come together on this really important issue and do what we can to protect future generations.