Vapes sold in Scotland should be made 'prescription only', health campaigners urge MSPs

dailyrecord.co.uk:

MSPs are being urged to copy Australia and make e-cigarettes prescription only in a bid to tackle a new “epidemic of vaping” among young people.Health campaigners at Ash Scotland made the plea amid growing concern over youngsters vaping.It has urged the Scottish Government to “strongly consider following Australia’s precautionary approach to e-cigarettes” by making products containing nicotine available with a prescription only.Australians have needed a prescription to legally obtain nicotine-containing vaping products since 2021.Professor Emily Banks, a public health specialist at the Australian National University, said a review she led showed that between two-thirds and three-quarters of smokers who quit managed to do so unaided.She added: “Our review shows that e-cigarettes are harmful overall to non-smokers, especially young people.“E-cigarettes are not an approved smoking cessation aid but, for some people, can be useful in attempts to give up tobacco – as long as they don’t use both e-cigarettes and cigarettes, which is the most common pattern.“Evidence supports Australia’s prescription-only model for e-cigarettes, which aims to implement tighter controls to avoid vaping by non-smokers and young people, while offering targeted and supported use for people seeking to quit tobacco.”Prof Banks said new reforms, including restrictions on flavourings, are also being introduced in Australia in a bid to “reduce the appeal of vapes to children and adolescents”.The Daily Record has been campaigning since January for a ban on single-use vapes, both on grounds of kids’ health and for the environment.A staggering 1.3million disposable vapes are thrown away in the UK every week - wasting precious lithium batteries and posing a