Liverpool City Council has vowed to take a stand against 'irresponsible' vape companies which they say are deliberately marketing their addictive, nicotine-filled products to children.
Strawberry ice cream, bubblegum, pink lemonade, chocolate and caramel are just some of the flavours widely available in high street e-cigarette shops.
First introduced in China in 2003 as an alternative to cigarettes, councillors say the use of such products has 'mutated' into 'a public health crisis of its own for young people', as sweet-toothed youngsters who have never smoked before are becoming hooked on the addictive vapours.
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At a Liverpool City Council meeting on Wednesday, councillors passed a motion to fight the rising number of young people vaping by cracking down on illegal sales to under-18s with an 'expensive underage sales test purchasing operation' focusing on the poorer areas of Liverpool.
Work will be done to identify vape-addicted children in schools, and they will be offered support from the stop smoking service, Smoke Free Liverpool.
Coun Carol Sung, who was one of the councillors who put forward the motion, said: "I have seen children walking to school in the morning, vaping.
"The boxes of vape pens are brightly coloured, pinks and blues and yellows. And the flavours - as an ex-smoker myself, I can't imagine anyone who's giving up smoking wanting a cigarette that tastes of strawberry ice cream, blueberry, and bubblegum. They are absolutely marketed towards children.
"I'm really concerned. Are we content as a national allowing these children to take up vaping and get hooked on nicotine?"
Coun Anthony Lavelle, who also put forward the motion, said: "Vaping is on the rise among under-18s and particularly among children who have never smoked before, which is one of the bigger concerns. The Government has an ambition to make this generation smoke-free and nicotine-free, and the opposite is happening - young people are becoming addicted to vapes.
"Generally the nicotine levels in vapes are 2%, but they can be as high as 12%, which is a lot more addictive.
"These can be sold in any sweet shop or corner shop in the country. It's become so trendy, vape shops have become a big thing. There should be tighter regulations so children don't have ready access to them. We brought in tight regulations to cut down on smoking, and vaping should be in the same category.
"I don't see how you should be allowed to buy vapes in sweet shops. They're targeting children. There's a reason you can buy candyfloss vapes."
Some 15.8% of 11 to 17-year-olds tried vaping in 2022 compared to 11.3% the previous year, according to a report by Action on Smoking and Health.
The charity also reported that among those who tried vaping, 40.1% had never smoked before.
In its motion to reduce the number of underage vapers in Liverpool, the council's motion read: "Vaping is the most successful cessation intervention for people struggling with quitting smoking - any intervention to stop people from smoking is welcomed.
"...But what started as a smoking cessation device has mutated into what many are calling a public health crisis of its own for young people. Many teachers, medical experts and trading standards officials are saying that vapes are too easily available to children."
Professor Matthew Ashton, Director of Public Health for Liverpool, said “I want to re-iterate that the use of e cigarettes and vapes by under-18s is illegal. The effects of e-cigarettes and vaping are still not fully understood - which is especially important in the context of young people, as their lungs are still developing.
"Liverpool City Council’s Trading Standards do regular test purchases and have seized products and issued fixed penalty notices when a business has been found to be in breach of the law.
"There is growing evidence that e-cigarettes can help people manage their nicotine cravings – but this isn’t without risk - and we don’t want to end up in a situation where one harmful product or habit is simply replaced by another.
"Our recommendation would always be to access expert advice from our smoking cessation service to quit smoking or indeed quit e-cigarettes, as getting nicotine replacement products (in many cases for free), such as patches or gum and accessing one to one support is a model which helps thousands of people quit each year.”
The council also agreed to write to the Secretary of State, calling for tighter regulations on the marketing of vape products, including a ban on brightly-coloured packaging and a review of the the flavours vape companies use which are likely to appeal to children.
It also called for harsher punishments for 'irresponsible' companies which flout advertising rules to promote their products on social media, and for more licensing powers to allow local authorities to ban the sale of e-cigarettes in shops near schools.
Smokers and vapers can contact Smokefree Liverpool via telephone 0800 061 4212 or 0151 374 2535, text QUIT to 66777 or online via www.smokefreeliverpool.co.uk
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