Licensing of vape shops a step in the right direction
When e-cigarettes first came onto the market 18 years ago, nobody could have envisaged how their market would grow.
Initially seen as a tool to help people quit cigarettes, few people would have predicted the proliferation of different flavours on offer, still less how popular they would become among the young.
This has proved to be something of a double-edged sword, to put it mildly. On the one hand, it is generally agreed that they are considerably less harmful than tobacco, the fact that thousands of young people are turning to addictive substances is a matter of real concern. We therefore welcome the Government's decision that all retailers of vapes will need to be licensed in future.
We have all seen the reports of unscrupulous shopkeepers selling vapes to underage children, as well as the burgeoning market in illicit e-cigarettes brought in from abroad. If licensing makes it easier for the authorities to control the supply of these devices, that can only be a good thing.
Of course, none of this will make any difference if local authorities are not given the resources to enforce the new legislation. But, for now, this is a step in the right direction.
