Earlier this evening Andy Carter MP was among many who supported legislation that will create a Smokefree Generation by preventing anyone born after January 2009 being sold a cigarette and take powers to clamp down on the worrying rise of youth vaping.
The size of the prize here is a big one. Smoking is still the number one preventable cause of death, disability, and ill health, causing around 80,000 deaths per year across the UK. Creating a smokefree generation will cut the number of cases of strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and other lung diseases by 470,000 by 2100.
There are also powers in this Bill to reduce the attractiveness of vaping to children. While vapes can be an effective quit tool for adult smokers, we know that youth vaping has tripled in the last three years, and 1 in 5 children have now tried a vape. Vapes are being deliberately targeted at children to get them addicted early to nicotine, and we have to stop that.
