𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Schools are being overwhelmed by a vaping “epidemic” and the minimum age should be raised to 21 to restore order, according to a former senior teacher who is appalled by what he witnessed.

John Stainton-Somers, who in more than three decades in the profession taught in rural, coastal, suburban and inner-city schools, has urged Labour to “stop avoiding difficult decisions” and take action to keep vapes out of the hands of children. He wants the minimum age for vaping raised from 18 to 21 in an effort to stop pupils getting older friends to buy them vaping products.

His warning comes on the heels of research showing seven pubs have been lost for every new vape shop since 2016. While Britain has lost nearly 1,800 pubs and bars, the number of vape. and tobacco shops has hit nearly 2,200. The Government’s legislation to phase out smoking by gradually hiking the age at which you can purchase tobacco will go before MPs on Monday for its final stage before becoming law. Mr Stainton-Somers wants the Government to get a grip on a situation he insists is not “normal”.

He said that a decade ago he would catch pupils have the “odd cigarette” during a lunch break but “now it’s vaping, and they do it almost anywhere: in the toilets during lesson time, in classrooms, in the corridors and walkways, wherever they can.”

He added: “The sheer scale of it has taken schools by surprise.”

Describing one incident, he said: “A small group of boys in sheer panic asked me to hurry to one of the toilet blocks: their friend was locked in a cubicle and not responding. On breaking the door open, we found him, a 15-year-old semi-unconscious on the floor, choking on his own vomit.

“ Luckily, we arrived on time, cleared his airways, and the ambulance arrived quickly. Had we arrived minutes later, the outcome would have been very different. The cause of his condition was not alcohol or taking traditional drugs: it was vaping – specifically, under-the-counter illicit vapes with nicotine levels far higher than the law allows, together with a ‘cannabis cocktail’ addition.”

Mr Stainton-Somers said he did not know of a “a secondary school where vaping hasn’t had a significant, disruptive presence”.

“Underage pupils rarely buy directly from shops,” he said. “They obtain vapes through older friends, siblings or sixth formers. To make a real dent in youth uptake, the Government should raise the legal age to buy vapes from 18 to 21.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Children should never vape. The measures this Government is taking will protect children and young people from the potential harms of vaping and risks of nicotine addiction. We have already banned single-use vapes and our landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill will ban vape advertising, reducing their appeal to young people. The Bill will also allow government to limit vape packaging, flavours and display.”