Vaping: NI included in major wide-ranging consultation
The Department of Health says it has a long-standing strategic aim for a tobacco-free Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland is to be part of a UK-wide consultation on tobacco and vaping rules, it was revealed today (Thursday).
The eight-week consultation will cover proposals making it illegal for anyone born on or after January 1 2009 to ever be sold tobacco products at any point in their lives.
The Department of Health NI said it has a long-standing strategic aim for a tobacco-free Northern Ireland.
In the last decade the region has seen a reduction in smoking prevalence, with adult smoking rates falling from 24% to 17% over the last 11 years.
Despite falling numbers of adult smokers, approximately 2,200 people die each year in Northern Ireland from smoking-related conditions.
The department has agreed that Northern Ireland will be included in the public consultation launched on Thursday by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to help inform future decision-making on tobacco policy and legislation.
The consultation will also include a series of proposals to clamp down on the sale and use of vapes by children and young people including restrictions on flavours, display, packaging and disposable vapes.
Comments in response to the public consultation can be given by anyone, of any age, in Northern Ireland.
In a statement, the department said: "The outcome of this consultation will help inform decisions of incoming NI Ministers and the Executive, or in the absence of Ministers, those decisions that can be taken under the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2022."