Health charity, Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS), has welcomed the fact that the Assembly has voted to effectively raise the age at which tobacco can be sold in Northern Ireland, and to restrict the marketing of vapes to young people.
Speaking on the day that the Assembly voted to endorse the application of the Tobacco and Vaping Bill, Neil Johnston from NICHS, said; “We welcome this Bill which will raise the age of sale for tobacco and restrict the use of vape flavours and the use of colours in marketing that is designed to appeal to children.”
“We very much urged Assembly members to vote in support of this Legislative Consent Motion so that people in Northern Ireland get the same protections as the rest of the country.”
“We are particularly pleased to see the original Bill has been revised to include the need for retailers selling vapes to register with their local council. We hope this will make it easier for councils to police the market for vapes and help prevent them getting into the hands of young people and children.”
“It is imperative that the NI Executive increases funding for this important work. Local councils need to be properly resourced to ensure that young people are prevented from easily accessing tobacco and vapes when they are under 18.”
“The Assembly has already brought in regulation to ban the sale of disposable vapes from 1st June and we also applaud their action on this. Disposables are undoubtedly aimed at the youth market and the Assembly is right to prohibit their sale.”
Further information about vaping can be found on the NICHS website at www.nichs.org.uk/vaping
