Parents who are concerned about their kids’ health are pleading with the Totnes Morrisons shop to stop marketing vape kits to kids.
A group of parents from King Edward VI Community College wants the store to stop prominently promoting teen-friendly vape items with flavours like coca-cola and bubblegum.
They tried writing to Morrisons’ corporate office and speaking with the manager of the Totnes shop to persuade them to hide the goods under shutters, but they were unsuccessful.
They are now pleading with everyone to join a national petition demanding stricter regulations on businesses that offer vape kits to children and teenagers.
Morrisons claims in a statement that it does not carry bubblegum flavour kits and that it takes care to place its displays in sections of the store where “strong colleague presence [is] present to deflect the unwelcome attention of younger clients.”
The mother of a KEVICC student, Graham Peacock, whose son is 13 years old, said: “A lot of parents are worried about vaping in the town and surrounding the school.
“On top of all that, Morrisons has chosen to install a very alluring, alluring end of aisle floor to ceiling display of vape items in the Totnes shop, featuring flavours like coca-cola and bubblegum.
“People claim that because it doesn’t target children, it isn’t a concern, but it very definitely is.
“Vape products are not subject to the same restrictions on marketing and display as other nicotine-based goods, like as cigarettes, which you are not permitted to advertise.
“Selling to people above the age of 18 is lawful, but do they need to wait for the legislation to alter before they hide that blatant marketing directed at kids? The customer service kiosk at Morrison’s is where they can transfer the vape goods with ease.
“Several people have said that shoplifting is a problem, with youngsters entering and stealing this things and then selling it to other kids in Totnes,” Graham stated.
Parents are concerned about Totnes’s easy access to vaporizers. There are two completely legal vape stores. A large, impressive vape sign has been wrapped around a bollard. There would be a problem if I did it with a Marlborough cigarette advertisement.
“Vaping is promoted as a way to quit smoking, but we’re dealing about grownups here. Although it is thought to be a safer alternative, what exactly does vape consist of? First and foremost, there is nicotine in there, along with numerous other substances.
“I used to smoke, so I’m not preaching to adults, but I’m really, really worried that teens today are taking this substance, and nobody really knows what harm it will do to their developing lungs.
I don’t want my rugby-playing son to get distracted by anything that could harm his general fitness or health.
Graham visited with Alan Salt, the headteacher of KEVICC, to push him to implement a “zero tolerance” policy on vaping on school property.
The second-grade instructors at Dartmouth and Kingsbridge secondaries, according to Mr. Salt, share the same worries about young people and the rising popularity of vaping.
He said: “What we are most concerned about are the following issues, which many of our parents and caregivers also share: the long-term health effects of vapes; our belief that young people typically do not switch from tobacco smoking to vaping; rather, the majority of users would not otherwise use nicotine products; our concern that nicotine vaping is leading to dependency in young people; and our perception that the way vapes are marketed and sold, in stores and frequently alongside products.
“We are attempting to increase awareness of difficulties among our young people, parents, and caregivers, and we are informing Anthony Mangnall, our MP, of these issues. I’m happy to report that we will be meeting with him soon to discuss this.
Vapes are forbidden objects at all campuses, and our behaviour policy applies to all incidents of vaping.
“Our policy, in relation to the sale of vaping goods, strives to provide our adult consumers who are already smokers a safer alternative to tobacco,” Morrisons said in a statement.
“This is in keeping with the latest Kahn report and government advice.
“Vaping items are age-restricted, and we enforce a stringent Challenge 25 policy at all of our stores to ensure that customers under the age of 18 cannot purchase them.
In order to avoid drawing the unwanted attention of minor consumers, we have also taken care to place the displays for vaping products in sections of the store where we have considerable colleague presence.
We have a policy of not carrying flavours that might be seen as particularly kid-friendly, such “bubblegum,” and we are very aware of the significance of upholding strong security standards, therefore all fixtures are under CCTV surveillance and the items are carefully tagged.
Ref: https://www.totnes-today.co.uk/news/parents-demand-store-axes-teen-friendly-vape-displays-580334
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