A COUNTY Limerick politician and reformed smoker has raised concerns in the Dáil about the number of pop-up shops selling one-off vapes.
Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue, who has not smoked a cigarette in 30 years, also raised concerns about the age group who are now using these vapes. He said he did not agree with these one-off vapes but took the view that if one is an adult, one should have the common sense to know whether to use a vape.
“Personally, I would nearly prefer to see somebody smoke a cigarette than what is inside those vapes because their contents are unknown, as are the adverse reactions to them. If one is an adult, that is a decision one has to make,” Deputy O’Donoghue opined.
“My issue is with the number of pop-up shops selling these vapes. We have had shops that were there for decades but had to close down because they could not make a living, yet these pop-up shops can set up on high-end streets and keep their doors open.
They can make massive profits and keep the doors open by just selling vapes. It is absolutely crazy. We have generations upon generations of people trying to keep their shops open for the delivery of food and goods to people but who cannot, yet a pop-up shop can do so.”
Children, he continued, are now using these vapes.
“Children as young as nine are getting vapes. They are getting strawberry and Coca-Cola flavours. How easily led are children at that age? There should 100 per cent be a crackdown on vapes.
“When the smoking ban came in, the then Government said it tried to limit the number of people who were using cigarettes. It raised and raised the taxes on cigarettes. There are a lot more people addicted in this country to nicotine than there are people who are smoking. The highest rate is among people who are vaping.
We are catching people throwing one-off vapes away. We are talking about recycling and looking after the environment, yet all of these vapes are being thrown on the ground. We now have an issue with refillable vapes as well because it looks like liquid cocaine and so on can be put into them and people could be on drugs while they are having a vape.”
Accountability, he maintained, comes back to parenting.
“We are responsible for under-18s, including children. Adults are responsible for themselves and their health and what they are putting into their bodies. We can try to put things in place to tell people that vapes are bad for them but they are putting them into their own bodies.
I heard somebody mention it recently, and I actually told someone myself, that they might be better off to go out and put their lips around the exhaust of a car with the fumes coming out of it than breathing in what is in some of these vapes. It is unknown what is in these vapes but any person who gives or sells vapes to a child should be 100 per cent held accountable, and I would be 100 per cent behind that,” Deputy O’Donoghue concluded.