Vaping shops breaking code by selling to non-smokers

The majority of vape shops in the UK are breaking the industry's code of conduct and selling vaping products to non-smokers, an undercover investigation has revealed.

The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) sent non-smokers into 100 specialist vape shops across England, with almost nine in ten prepared to sell e-cigarettes to them, the BBC reports.

The Independent British Vape Trade Association's (IBVTA) voluntary code of conduct states that shops should 'never knowingly sell to anyone who is not a current or former smoker, or a current vaper'.

The RSPH said that while some of the shops in the investigation may have unwittingly sold vapes to non-smokers, just under half did not check whether the customers had smoked before. Meanwhile, three-quarters of those that did still encouraged non-smokers to start vaping.

Chief Executive of the RSPH, Shirley Cramer, insisted that e-cigarettes are 'quitting aids, rather than lifestyle products' and they should be sold as such.

Cramer said the RSPH is fully behind the Independent British Vape Trade Association's code of conduct and is keen to support the sector to strengthen the standards.

She added that the objective now is to get individual retailers to sign up and adhere to the code.

However, the IBVTA questioned the credibility of RSPH's findings, with statistics painting a different story.

Richard Hyslop, Chief Executive of the body, highlighted figures produced by organizations such as the Office for National Statistics and Action on Smoking and Health, which show that 'more than 90% of vapers in the UK are adult current or former smokers'.

'Therefore we do not believe this to be a significant problem,' Hyslop said.