PLANET OF THE VAPES
Map reveals UK’s vaping capital with the most shops per person – is your town riddled with ‘chemical-filled’ devices?
It's bad news for Brits in the north of England
A MAP has shown Britain's most vape-riddled towns, after a huge study revealed the country's "vape capital".
The nicotine-filled smoking simulators are used by children as young as 12 who've become addicted to the brightly-coloured vape pens.
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Online vape store Go Smoke Free unearthed data from Companies House to tally the number of registered vape stores in major UK towns and cities.
The data was then compared with total population size to work out the amount of shops the nation has per 100,000 residents.
And it's bad news from Brits in the North, as the region was seen to have the highest numbers, and made up seven of the 10 total hotspots.
Blackburn, in Lancashire ranked top of the list, where there are 22.56 vape stores for every 100,000 people.
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Coming in at a close second was Bolton, with 20.26 vape stores per the same cohort of residents.
There are 41 registered shops in total selling the nicotine filled products - used by the smokers within the 202,369 strong population.
Next up was Manchester, which figures stated has 19.84 vape sellers per 100,000 locals.
In fourth place was Middlesbrough, with 12.43 outlets for the addictive devices.
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Meanwhile Stockport had 12.03, and Doncaster recorded 10.44.
At the bottom of the list were Newport, Peterborough and Nottingham with 9.75, 9.68 and 9.62 shops respectively.
Scottish school installs 'screaming' alarms in toilets to stop kids vaping during day
The worrying statistics come amid more and more vaping horror stories.
A self-confessed "vaping addict" says her habit caused her right lung to collapse twice when she was still in her teens - and left it permanently scarred.
Karlee Ozkurt, 20, vaped for five years, after peer pressure at school convinced her to start.
Now she fears she won't live past the age of "40 or 50".
Karlee claims taking up e-cigarettes was the "worst decision" she ever made and it remains her biggest regret in life.
UK vaping law plans
MINISTERS have pledged to crackdown on poorly regulated vapes and e-cigarettes following an explosion in the number of teenagers who use them.
New rules for manufacturers and shopkeepers are expected to come into force in late 2024 or early 2025.
They are set to include:
- Higher tax rates paid on vapes to increase the price and make it harder for children to afford them
- A ban on single-use vapes in favour of devices that can be recharged
- A ban on colourful and cartoonish packaging that may appeal to youngsters
- Tighter controls on flavourings and a ban on unnecessarily sweet or child-friendly ones like bubblegum and candy
- More regulation on how and where they are displayed in shops, potentially putting them out of sight
- Harsher penalties for shops caught selling them to under-18s
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt also announced plans to impose a tax on on imported e-cigs and manufacturers, making vapes more expensive.
The duty will apply to the liquid in vapes, with higher levels for products with more nicotine.
Meanwhile, a man has urged people quit vaping after he was left with a hole in his lung and struggling to breathe.
Joseph Lawrence, 25, puffed on e-cigarettes every day for years before being rushed to A&E with an almost collapsed lung.
Plus, one parent was horrified when he discovered spiked ‘zombie vapes’ were being flogged to schoolkids on Snapchat.
A youngster was then left in coma, with another "vomiting blood".
Other school children have required medical attention after vaping, falling unconscious while experiencing horrifying heart palpitations, and dizziness.
RISHI'S SMOKING BAN
Now Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced disposable vapes will be banned in the UK.
The ban does not include re-fillable vapes.
It is due to come into effect on April 1 next year across England, Wales and Scotland.
The UK Tabacco and Vapes Bill 2024 will also make it illegal for those products to be sold to anyone born on or after January 1, 2009.
In January earlier this year The Sun revealed more than 20 serving ministers may refuse to vote for Mr Sunak’s smoking ban.
But the PM defended his clampdown despite it already illegal to sell vapes to anyone under 18.
He cited ease of access to single-use products targeted at kids and vowed to “stamp out” the trade with a full ban.
And No10 insisted there were no current plans to ban over-18s from vaping - after the Department for Health said the vapes “should only be used by adults as a tool to quit smoking.”
After Mr Sunak announced that he is pushing ahead with his plan to increase the smoking age by one year every year, senior Tories went public with their concerns.
They were led by ex-PM Liz Truss who branded the policy “profoundly unconservative."
But he hit back: "I don't think there's anything unconservative about caring about our children's health.”
The Sun revealed more than 20 current serving ministers have “deep suspicion” of the policy and will abstain or vote against it when it reaches the Commons.
In total more than 50 Tory MPs are said to be against the policy - but the plan has the support of Labour, meaning it will almost certainly pass into law.
The PM said in May: “Vaping should be promoted for those adults who currently smoke because it's a much less riskier activity than smoking nicotine based cigarettes.
“They shouldn't be deliberately targeting children – that's illegal.”
The number of youngsters vaping tripled in three years, with nine per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds using them.
Other measures being considered as part of the crackdown include introducing plain packaging.
Trading standards officers will be able to dish out on-the-spot fines to shops illegally selling vapes to kids, on top of the £2,500 penalty currently imposed by councils.
VAPE SIDE EFFECTS
Many studies show that vaping is far less harmful than smoking.
This is because e-cigarettes don’t contain tobacco, which is linked to causing cancer.
But vapes are not risk-free and contain nicotine, which has been linked to heart problems.
They can cause side effects such as throat and mouth irritation, headache, cough and feeling sick.
It has also been reported that vapes have been linked to at least five deaths in Britain.
And, there are now studies which show vapers suffer similar DNA damage to smokers.
Scientists at University College London say their research shows vaping is not risk-free.
Analysis of 3,500 cheek cell samples found “significant” genetic changes in smokers that were linked to lung cancers and growths.
Study author Dr Chiara Herzog said: “We cannot say that e-cigarettes cause cancer based on our study, but we do see e-cigarette users exhibit some similar genetic changes to smokers.
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“These changes are associated with future lung cancer development in smokers."
Top ten cities for vape shops per 100,000 residents
- Blackburn - 22.56
- Bolton - 20.26
- Manchester - 19.84
- Middlesbrough - 12.42
- Salford - 12.03
- Stockport - 10.91
- Doncaster - 10.44
- Newport - 9.75
- Peterborough - 9.68
- Nottingham - 9.62
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