Children’s doctors have joined calls for the Scottish government to ban disposable vapes.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said single-use e-cigarettes are likely to damage children’s lungs and are bad for the environment.
Dr Kenneth Macleod, Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician at Edinburgh Children’s Hospital, told BBC Scotland: “We’re seeing enough evidence to be worried. We’ll never know the true effect until we leave it many years. But similar to the arguments around cigarette smoking 50 or 60 years ago, we don’t want to wait until we see the consequences.
“We want to act now on the suspicions that we have and there’s some evidence that says e-cigarettes do cause lung inflammation.”
He added: “Vaping is promoted to young people through advertising, through flavours, through colours, through social media.
“So young people are taking it up as a recreational activity, they’re not using it to quit smoking – they’re using it because it looks fun and it tastes nice. But the worry is that because of the nicotine content, once they start, they can’t stop.”
The calls come after 21 out of 32 councils in Scotland support a ban on single-use vapes.
The Scottish government said it had commissioned a review of the environmental impacts of single-use vapes to be published later this month.
A spokesperson said: “We are considering a range of options, including a potential ban on single-use vapes.
“The review also considers other options, for example increasing access to responsible disposal options or improved product design. Any future approach will be determined by consideration of the options presented.”
