One of Ireland’s leading oncologists has called on society to try and bankrupt the vaping industry. 

The number of teenagers using e-cigarettes has surged in recent years, with the Institute of Public Health estimating that one fifth of all children aged between 11 and 16 have used one in 2022. 

The Government has recently introduced a ban on sales to anyone under the age of 18 but consultant oncologist John Crown  said society is still playing “catchup”. 

 “We need to ratchet up the pressure on vaping,” he told The Pat Kenny Show.  

“The key thing to admit is that we made a mistake in the first place; vaping should not have been as permissibly regulated as it was in the beginning. 

“It should have been regulated within an inch of its life from the very beginning. 

“But we’re playing catch up now to undo some of the harms which were done.” 

It is understood the Department of Health also plans to ban the sale of single use vapes and mandate  plain packaging. 

However, Professor Crown would like the Government to “go a stage further”. 

“Make it a purely medicinal product,” he argued. 

“Available only through chemist shops and available only as a smoking cessation programme. 

“Which is, to me, the only legitimate reason for doing it.” 

A teen vaping on the street. Picture by: Steven Gill / Alamy.

Professor Crown continued that while vaping is “much less harmful” than smoking tobacco, it still has a negative impact on a user’s health.  

“If people can be weaned off smoking through vaping - all well and good,” he said. 

“But if vaping becomes a gateway for young people to develop new nicotine addictions, which perhaps in as many as one third or half of cases, will result in youngsters taking up smoking, then we need to stop it.” 

Vapers in Manchester. Picture by: Mark Waugh / Alamy Stock Photo

When asked about the impact further restrictions on vapes could have on people who sell them, Professor Crown said he had “enormous sympathy” but people’s health must take priority. 

“Society did make a tremendous mistake in encouraging that in the first place,” he said. 

“I know I’m going to get hate mail for saying this but I once said our only ambition for the tobacco industry should be bankruptcy. 

“We’d like it to no longer exist; to be honest, in an ideal world, that’s the way I would like to feel about the vaping industry as well.” 

Main image: A man with a vape. Picture by: Robin Utrecht/Sipa USA.