Mark Oates, the founder of vaping campaign group We Vape, visited Ilford North on September 5 to raise awareness about the sale of illegal vapes. He claims that during his visit he was able to buy six vapes of either 5% nicotine strength (two and a half times the legal limit) or with illegally sized e-liquid tanks within 10 minutes. Five illegal vapes were reportedly purchased in Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s Tottenham constituency in just a quarter of an hour.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Holborn and St Pancras constituency yielded four illegal vapes in 40 minutes. Mr Oates said: "I have been able to stroll into shop after shop, ask for the strongest vape and be sold something already illegal, throughout the day. “Most traders barely hide it – they are so emboldened by the lack of enforcement by Trading Standards.
” It comes amid Government plans to put a Tobacco and Vapes Bill back on the legislative agenda, which aims to impose limits on the sale and marketing of vapes. But Mr Oates has claimed that these new measures will be “meaningless” and fuel further black market sales. Instead, he called on the Government to introduce a self-funding licensing system where retailers have to pay a fee to sell vapes, with the money then used to fund Trading Standards.
Mr Oates said: “Licensing of vape retailers would ensure those selling illegal vapes or caught selling to children could be stripped of their licence. "Adding these measures to the Tobacco and Vapes .