Trading Standards Point to Illegal Vapes as the Biggest Threat on the High Street

In a damning report this week, trading standard officials reiterated the threat to the high street that illegal vapes cause.

The report by the BBC shows that illegal vape devices are still present in our high streets, despite multiple crackdowns and raids all over the country. Reports from Nottingham already identified this exact issue in April last year.

The Problem With Illegal Vapes…

Trading Standards main concern is that the vape devices have not been through safety testing. When imported illegally, the vape devices can cause lung problems. Other countries do not ban the same harmful chemicals that Britain does. This can lead to respiratory problems, nosebleeds, or headaches.

There may be problems with the safety of the battery or with the nicotine strength, which is regulated to a maximum of 20mg/10ml bottles.

1 in 3 Gift Shops, Mobile Phone Shops, and Corner Stores, Sell to Minors

Another vast problem which the Trading Standards officials highlighted was the number of stores who are selling to minors. 60% of the stores surveyed sold vape products to minors. The BBC report also connects the devices to these minors, with parents adamant that new measures should be taken to prevent vaping among young adults and teens.

The ASH survey released last year revealed that only 10.4% of 11-15-year olds had vaped before. At 16-17 this figure jumps to 29.1%. The figure jumps again at 18-year olds, with 40.8% admitting that they had tried a vape in the past.

We sourced the NHS reports regarding how many teens smoked this time in 2001 and 2010. In 2010, 27 percent of high school pupils admitted to smoking. In 2001, 44% of school pupils had tried cigarettes. By 2010, only 5% of all pupils smoked regularly.

Given that Hon Lik invented the vape device in 2003, you can physically see the evidence that vaping has helped to eradicate smoking in high school. Despite this, the habit comes under constant fire from media sources such as this BBC report.

Ultimately vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking as proven by government backed scientific studies. Yes, we do not want shop owners selling them to underage children or teens. However, the media needs to come around and admit that vaping is safer than smoking. The kids growing up today may have a nicotine addiction, but they are not putting 7,000 cancer-causing chemicals (inclusive of radioactive materials) into their bodies. We would even argue that it is more harmful to teens not to give them factual information and feed them fear, instead.

Vaping is reducing the number of smokers across the board. All we need to do now is to stop stores breaking the law by supplying them to minors.

Where to buy safe, legal vape devices?

You can buy safe, legal, fully vetted vape devices here at Vape Direct. We have an automatic filter on our checkout process which will not issue a sale to anyone who is too young. We report regularly on all vape news stories, and we sell pod kits, vape kits, and even trusted disposable by brands like Lost Mary, Elf Bar, and Elux 600s.