Minors and Vaping - How Vapemate Prevents Underage Sales

Naturally there’s a concern among responsible adults – even those who use e-cigarettes  – about youngsters vaping...

...because the image of a child smoking or vaping is unacceptable to most people.

Even a quick search on underage vaping brings up countless forums that typically start ‘I just found a vape pen in my 15-year-old’s bedroom… what do I do?’

Is it legal for minors to vape? No!

The recent changes in the law are aimed at protecting children from the effects of smoking and vaping.  In the UK the government wants to encourage a smoke-free generation and, in the case of vaping, the new rules also help to protect children from accidentally ingesting a nicotine-containing e-liquid.

And the jury is likely to be out for a little while longer on whether vaping is a gateway to smoking. There are weekly reports claiming it encourages smoking and just as many claiming it doesn’t.  In getting to the answer you’d be as accurate plucking flower petals one by one in a “she loves me, she loves me not” fashion.

The Sun newspaper recently did its own sting on underage vaping, sending youngsters aged from 13 to 17 into various vape shops across the country. According to the paper, a third failed the test and one of their volunteers was even challenged and on admitting he was only 16 was still sold the vape products.  The Sun’s report was inspired by a recent operation by Trading Standards in Sandwell, who found nine of the ten shops visited also sold e-liqiuids and e-cigarettes to minors.

But Trading Standards’ efforts in the monitoring of underage selling is not recent – there are operations every year.  For example between January and March 2016 Trading Standards recorded that minors were sold vaping devices by 246 of the 634 retailers visited.

What is more recent though is the media’s zealousness in going after vaping.

Preventing Underage Sales at Vapemate

As a responsible company, Vapemate takes measures to prevent minors from purchasing its products.

At the point of purchase, our customers’ details are checked with a credit reference agency.  This enables us to verify the age of the account holder before a payment is made.  Supermarkets use the same process to ensure that the customer is of legal age when buying alcohol online.  There is no footprint left on the account, it’s simply a quick and effective way of verifying the details we need to be sure that a transaction is processed in the proper way.

The Vapemate Vape Shop 

Offline our shop staff are fully trained and will ask anyone who appears to be under the legal age for identification.  The shop also displays signs indicating that ID will be required if a member of staff feels that a person trying to purchase vape or e-liquid products is below the legal age.

In the current climate, it’s common for the media to pick up on the actions of the few and run with it.  Responsible companies, like Vapemate, obey the laws.  They work on creating a sustainable business within the regulatory environment, not ignoring laws for quick sales.  Some do make genuine mistakes, others don’t care.

You can be assured however that when you are buying from Vapemate you are buying your e-liquid and vaping products from a responsible supplier.