Lessons from other countries on vaping regulation

Addiction Economy Thought for Today - Lessons from other countries on vaping regulation.

In case anyone is interested, a blog from The Behavioural Insights Team with some interesting stats. Their proposed lessons:

1. Regulation is only as good as the effectiveness of its enforcement
They cite Australia and New Zealand where illegal vapes exploded after the ban. They are rife here too without the ban, so agree that the £30m enforcement boost is needed.

But also, we see the focus of attention is all on corner shops with the new regulation - online sales are already huge and will explode and they are much harder to police for children and adults. Unsure of plans for that.

2. Get the right balance of harm reduction for smokers and preventing recreational vaping

We don't really agree that the ban on disposables is enough to get the balance between recreational vaping and helping smokers quit. Companies are already innovating their way around the disposable ban. This will be a whack-a-mole thing we think.

3. Avoid the 'closing down sale' - where everyone stocks up on cheap products

Unavoidable. It has already started.

4. The most effective enforcement rests on public support

Here they are focused on the 'misperceptions of the relative harms of smoking and vaping' getting in the way of helping smokers quit. We are as concerned that vapes will become a lifestyle product for recreational use alongside alcohol and gambling with its own harms to come with concerted use led by young adults who are already the main target for companies.

We need equal focus on preventing recreational vaping in the general population. This is not happening.

Here's their blog.

https://lnkd.in/ejqTPMrU

Here are our recommendations

https://lnkd.in/ekWU2Gdc