IT is the question that goes right to the heart of vape regulation across the world – how can vaping be kept out of the hands of the under-aged – and at the same time – not depriving millions of adult smokers vaping products which have been proven to be safer alternatives.
In the UK, where vaping is regulated, youth vaping incidences have been kept to a minimum.
A 2021 report by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) which examined the use of e-cigarettes or vape among youth in Great Britain found that a large majority of 11-18 year-olds have never tried or are unaware of e-cigarettes (83%).
This finding has remained consistent since 2017.
The survey further found that vaping is much less common among youths who have never smoked. A large majority of ‘never smokers’ aged 11-18 – 94.1% in total – have either never vaped (87.9%) or are not aware of them (6.2%).
In a recently published policy note entitled Age Restrictions of Vape Products, the Consumer Choice Center (CCC) shared existing examples and best practices from established vaping markets – and other relevant industries – which can be adopted and emulated in countries such as Malaysia where vaping is largely prevalent but not regulated.
To prevent the products falling into the hands of the underage, the CCC recommends the following:
- Introduce smart regulations and 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; and
- Don’t punish legal adult vapers for the lack of enforcement of age restrictions.
Instead of taking drastic measures such as banning vape which will only drive more consumers to illegal products on the unregulated black market, a more coordinated approach by both regulators and industry can and should be explored, according to CCC director Fred Roeder.
“We believe that the regulations with strict enforcement on no-sale to the underage marks the distinction between consenting adult consumers and those who have not reached the legal age to make these decisions,” opined Roeder.
The policy note also cites examples from the UK on how controls are put in place to stop under-age from purchasing products with age restrictions.
An example of such a solution is AgeChecked, a UK-based secure online age verification system that requests a buyer’s full name, billing address and date of birth when placing an order. This information must be entered as it would appear on the buyer’s driver’s license, electoral roll or UK credit card.
For brick-and-mortar stores, industry players can emulate UK’s retail initiative Challenge 25, a project developed by the Retail of Alcohol Standards Group which required staff to ask buyers who look younger than 25 for proof of age identification.
This campaign is a good example of retail improving its age verification systems without additional regulation or bans. – June 12, 2021
