Vape Patrol Blog
10th December 2024​
A survey from 'Material Focus' (a non-profit campaigning for recycling of electrical products) found that one third of 16-18 year olds threw away their disposable vapes at school (or work). Some even try to flush them away in toilets! The reason given is primarily that they do not want their family to know that they vape. 40% said that they would use recycle points in their school.
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1st November 2024
The NHS has published its latest review of "Smoking, drinking and drug use among Young People in England 2023" Key takeaways include : 25% of pupils have tried vaping; Only 5% of young vapers had previously smoked cigarettes;
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30th October 2024
The cost of vaping and smoking will increase following tax rises announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Budget. A new tax on vapes of £2.20 per 10ml of e-cigarette liquid will kick in from October 2026.
That will be accompanied by an equivalent increase of £2.20 per 100 cigarettes in tobacco duty to "maintain the financial incentive to switch from tobacco to vaping".
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​18th October 2024
NHS figures on released on 17th October revealed that one in four children aged 11-15 in England tried vaping in 2023 – up from 22% two years earlier – with almost one in 10 (9%) using e-cigarettes regularly. By comparison, 11% said they had tried cigarettes.
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Matt Fagg, NHS England’s director for prevention and long-term conditions, said the statistics were “incredibly concerning. It means they are at risk of becoming hooked on one of the world’s most addictive substances, and that is before we consider the longer-term impacts which are still unclear.”
Andrew Gwynne, a health minister, also said the figures were worrying. “The health advice is clear that children and adult non-smokers should never vape, so it is unacceptable to see unscrupulous retailers marketing them at children,” he said.
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5th June 2024
This week we have been reading about the school in Edinburgh that invested £1,000 in vape detectors and, since being switched on, the school has had "almost zero activations" in the bathrooms. One teacher described them as being a "game changer". This school chose detectors with an audible alarm that also send an alert to a staff member's phone. The BBC article also referred to the latest Public Health Scotland survey of health behaviour in school-aged children - covering 2022 - reported that more than a third (36%) of 15-year-olds had used an e-cigarette at least once and a quarter were current users. The Royal High School had found that at least 50% had tried or were currently vaping. We can be sure that things have got much worse since the survey was completed.
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27th May 2024
Here at Vape Patrol we are incredibly disappointed that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will not now become law before the election. This was an opportunity to crack down on the sale of e-cigarettes to children and restrict the range of flavours and packaging that appeal to kids. We hope that the next Government will pursue similar measures.
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13th May 2024
How should schools punish pupils who are caught vaping? This is the questions that many Heads are grappling with - whether to impose tough sanctions or use a range of education and support. Many schools use fixed-term exclusions of one or two days when a student is found vaping or with vapes in their possession - some schools have brought in random searches and even hand-held metal detectors.
7th May 2024
School budgets are probably under more stress than they have ever been due to unfunded teacher pay increases, inflation and soaring energy costs. On top of these challenges, most schools are having to invest in greater pastoral support with more Learning Assistants and support staff, a huge increase in access arrangements for exams, and Local Authority cut-backs in the High Needs Block funding. Now, schools are having to fund measures to tackle vaping either with additional staff and/or vape detectors. With some vape detectors costing over £400 each (plus installation) most schools cannot afford to provide the necessary coverage leaving numerous 'hot spots' without sensors. Our plan was always to provide an option that schools could afford - perhaps a little more basic than some other models but just as sensitive and simpler to use, allowing a school to buy the number of detectors that it needs rather than how many it can afford.