Big Issue: Are underage children getting hooked on electronic cigarettes?

Hundreds of shops have been caught illegally selling e-cigs to underage children. Philip Cullinane looks at what can be done to stop youngsters accessing e-cigs

ELECTRONIC cigarettes were first introduced as a way of helping smokers wean themselves off their deadly addiction.

But it is becoming increasingly clear that many non-smokers are taking up the e-cig habit – and concerns are growing at the number of underage children who are among them.

It is illegal for shops to sell e-cigs to anyone under 18. But more than a third of the retailers targeted in an operation by Trading Standards in England were caught selling to underage children.

Children aged 14 to 17 were sold vaping devices by 246 of the 634 retailers visited between January and March 2016.

Mathew Shalcross, director of Vapour 4 You on the High Street Newcastle, says he has always made a point of refusing to sell e-cigarettes to children.

The 35-year-old said: "We have refused to serve our products to under-18s even before it was the law because we felt we had a moral duty to do so.

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"It is disgusting that there are shops that will sell these to under-18s.

"We have had children in uniform trying in the past. When we say no, they say they'll just go somewhere else and we think well, it may be a loss in trade for us but it would be wrong to serve them and now it is against the law anyway.

"We have had to say no to parents buying them for their children. It is obvious when the child has picked out the flavours.

"I am confident that our products aren't being sold to under-18s.
'I really don't think that e-cigs are a gateway to drugs or to smoking cigarettes'

"The last think we want is products we sell with our name on circulating around and being confiscated in schools.

"Because of how strict we are, we don't get many children in now, they know not to bother."

But as you might expect, Mathew does not believe the fault lies with the products themselves.

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He added: "I think the e-cigs are great for people who are trying to quit but they shouldn't be used by non-smokers just because their mates have one or they think they are cool.

"I really don't think that e-cigs are a gateway to drugs or to smoking cigarettes. If you have a nice fruity flavour like melon the taste of cigarette will be a real shock."

Action for Smoking and Health (ASH) supports the use of e-cigs as a means of quitting smoking, but says it is 'totally unacceptable' for shops to sell them to underage kids.
'Sadly I am not surprised that under-18s are getting their hands on electronic cigarettes...'

Information manager Amanda Sandford, said: "ASH's position is that we believe e-cigarettes can be a useful tool to help smokers cut down or quit smoking as well as helping to stop ex-smokers relapsing back to smoking.

"They are considerably safer than tobacco products and are proving to be the most popular stop-smoking aid.

"There is no evidence that using e-cigarettes leads to a take-up of smoking. However, it is not appropriate for children to use them as the products do contain nicotine which is highly addictive.

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"Therefore we support the law to prevent the sale of e-cigarettes to under 18s and the ban on adults buying the products for under 18s to use.

"Furthermore it's totally unacceptable for any retailer to break the law by selling e-cigarettes to children and the matter should be treated in the same way as the illegal sale of tobacco to children."

Rob Flello, MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, believes more needs to be done to stop children taking up the e-cigarette habit.

He said: "Sadly I am not surprised that under-18s are getting their hands on electronic cigarettes. This was one of my concerns when they became popular that they would be seen as cool and trendy.

"There was a big push a few years ago, understandably, by the e-cig companies that they were the better alternative to help people stop smoking and that the Government should look at them positively.

"But we need to find a way to stop under-18s from using and getting hold of e-cigs. I will be contacting the health minister as soon as possible to see what can be done to stop under-18s getting them and the long term implications of using them."

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Resource : http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/big-issue-are-underage-children-getting-hooked-on-electronic-cigarettes/story-29614233-detail/story.html