Thousands sign vape shop's petition over new laws

A Guernsey vape shop has said it could "lose half its customers" because of new laws banning under-18s from the premises, even with a parent or carer.

The VapeBar said it had more than 1,000 signatures to a petition asking the States to reverse that part of the law, which will come into force at the end of March.

Sophie Dorfner, from The VapeBar, said the incoming rules were a "discrimination against parents".

Tobin Cook, director of environmental health and pollution regulation, said the new rules were about "harm prevention."

Dorfner said the law discriminated against parents and that customers with children would simply buy vapes elsewhere.

"They will go to any other convenience store on the island where vapes and tobacco are freely available, whether you have a child with you or not," she said.

"We're really hoping the States will see that these restrictions aren't going to prevent 14 to 16 year olds from vaping, they're going to potentially push parents and carers back to smoking tobacco products because they are easily available in any other shop on the island."

As part of this new legislation, the sale of vapes to under 18s was banned in June last year, and since 31 January it has been illegal to sell disposable vapes.

The final phase of the law will also include a ban on advertising vapes and specialist vape shops only showing products inside.

Secondary school teacher Megan Davies said she supported the changes.

"I've seen a lot of young people have vapes, and I don't think they should have access to them," she said.

"I can see the positive side of people trying to stop smoking, but in my profession I see the negatives of young people getting into vaping."

But islander Lee Robert Baudains questioned how effective the laws would be in practice.

"I just think the older people will buy them, and the younger ones will still get them," he said.

Cook said the display ban aimed to reduce the attractiveness of the products, especially to more vulnerable people.

"It's just to make them less obvious, so hopefully that causes a reduction as well.

"But for those that already want to vape or already know about the products, they're still available for them."

He added there had been "a lot of opportunity" for vape shops to "understand what's coming, why it's coming, and to look at their business models and to see if there are adaptations that could be made."