EURACTIV PR

An easy way of publishing your relevant EU press releases.

New Report on Underage Vaping: Enforce existing laws, encourage innovation, and don’t penalize adult vapers

Date

24 Nov 2020

Sections

Health & Consumers

London, UK: A new report published by the Consumer Choice Center (CCC) takes a closer look at existing age restrictions on the sale of vaping products and suggests several policies to reverse the low enforcement rates of current laws.

Fred Roeder, Health Economist and author of the report, highlights: “Most countries have already drawn a line of when it is legal to vape. We don’t face a lack of legislation but a lack of compliance with existing rules and regulations. We looked at similarly regulated industries such as alcohol and gambling and found that these tend to have smarter enforcement mechanisms. There are many innovative tools out there to ensure only adult customers can buy vaping products. Digital ID checks and industry initiatives to ID customers that look young are better ways to solve the problem than additional laws such as flavor bans,” said Roeder.

To reduce the rate of vapers who are minors, the Consumer Choice Center recommends the following:

  • Enforce strict age restrictions on vaping devices and liquids at the point of sale.
  • Use modern age-verification technology for online sales.
  • Learn from other industries such as alcohol and fireworks on how to improve compliance rates.
  • Retail and industry should be encouraged to be more proactive with the enforcement of rules.
  • Don’t punish legal adult vapers for the lack of enforcement of age restrictions.

The full report can be found HERE