Tobacco and Vapes Bill

Written Evidence Submitted by Louise Ross to the Tobacco and Vapes Public Bill Committee (TVB31).

This submission addresses issues arising from the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which would benefit from being viewed through the lens of user experience; the insights are informed by real-world experience of smoking cessation delivery.

I have over twenty years’ experience in smoking cessation and I launched the first vape-friendly Stop Smoking Service in the world. Although having retired from leading a service in 2018, I continue to work in the field, as a clinical consultant at the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT), and as the stop-smoking lead for Smoke Free Digital, a complete stop-smoking service delivered via digital technology and a 24/7 team of expert advisors. I also write occasional articles for nursing and health journals, and I am regularly asked to do media interviews on smoking-related stories.

My reason for submitting evidence is that I have extensive experience of hearing from people who have tried to stop smoking about what worked for them and what didn’t. I hope my observations are useful to you. This is a personal submission, and does not necessarily reflect the position of the NCSCT or Smoke Free Digital.

1. I strongly recommend that any MP debating this Bill should read the NCSCT briefing on vaping NCSCT vaping briefing v7 There is widespread misinformation about vaping that actually keeps people smoking, among policy-makers, health and social care professionals and the general public, and correcting even a fraction of this will help reduce the numbers of people smoking. It will also help remind MPs that it’s the smoke, not the nicotine, that kills.

2. It has been said a number of times in debates about the Bill that vaping should only be for stopping smoking, not for long-term use. Please understand that in the Stop Smoking Services, we see the same people re-attending over and over again. These people need maintenance nicotine to help avoid going back to smoking. The people most likely to need ongoing nicotine are the people we should be making extra effort to keep from relapsing – those with poor mental health, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, users of other substances. Some will need to use nicotine for many years, if not for life.

3. Smokefree places should not be made vape-free as well. There is a value proposition here, that anywhere where smoking is not allowed, vaping as an alternative will prompt people to try vaping instead, and in the stop-smoking services we see a significant number of ‘accidental quitters’ who realise that precisely by using a vape in a smokefree area, they could make the switch. This was particularly true in the hospitals where I worked while leading the Leicester Stop Smoking Service, and this applied to patients, staff and visitors.

4. I fully support the removal of cartoon characters from branding, and banning the ‘toy’ devices, but I believe the market should be free to focus on adult colours and imagery. Flavours are really important to adult users of the products, whether new users or those who are staying smokefree with a vape. We used to assume in the service that tobacco flavour would be most popular with new quitters, but it was fruit flavours, bubble-gum, dessert flavours that they liked best, and they told their advisors that it was the flavours, and experimenting with a wide range of ‘crazy’ flavours, that stopped them from going back to cigarettes, which they found tasted terrible after a few weeks of vaping. Going back to the accidental quitting theme, we hear from a significant number of new quitters that the impulse purchase of a vape was what helped them make a decision to stop smoking, so hiding vapes away from public view is likely to be a misstep.

5. The licensing scheme proposed in the Bill is something I can fully support. Age legislation will have a far smaller effect if retailers do not fear the consequences of selling illicit products or selling to underage customers. If anything, the financial penalties should be higher. It is generally the mixed-goods shops, not the specialist shops, which cause problems, and which are happy to make a quick and easy profit. The specialist shops are valued public health partners, having good knowledge of what works for people who want to quit, and are a good source of referral to Stop Smoking Services, thus helping those who need a different sort of stop-smoking aid, such as nicotine replacement therapy or a prescribed medication.

I hope this is useful to you. I very much want to see the end of smoking, both in the UK and worldwide, but I fear the unintended consequences of decisions that are made without the benefits of insights from people who have made the journey from smoker to smokefree.

December 2024.