Many thanks Jonathan for mentioning me. This is an extremely balanced critique of vapes, looking at it from all angles - parents, government, shops, etc, as all those aspects are important to consider. I agree that young people will be young, and often rebel against parental authority, and even adults can be the same when it comes to not being told what to do, and it often works against those dependent and vulnerable to advertising.

Also the regulating laws and lack of police checks in relation to underage selling of vapes, tobacco etc, is probably not strictly enforced, if at all. I know now young people need an identity card showing they are over 18 yrs, but I wonder if this applies to vapes? In the past, when I was growing up, there was no problem buying cigarettes at 13 yrs old, which myself and a friend did on school vacation, when we were away from parents. Although I vowed never to become addicted to smoking, and probably never got totally hooked on them, I did smoke intermittently, and sometimes a lot. When I realised the dangers of smoking and heart risks, etc, I completely stopped it. Passive smoking is also terrible and I grew up in the years where there was no smoking bans and worked for years in small offices of heavy smokers and at home, visitors frequently smoked. I am probably very lucky not to have lung cancer.

The social pressure on young people to look cool, fit in and be accepted by their peers, alongside massive marketing and advertising about vapes that is misleading and making them seem like candy (in bright colors) makes it hugely worse. At least cigarettes didn't have fancy colored packaging that much and even had a "smoking kills" warning, and even then people ignored and still ignore it.

You made some great comparisons here between the difficult role parents have and lack of control of what their children do, alongside the role of government to curtail, inform and guide parents and children. Also from a health perspective, the cost of healthcare is high and NHS funded by taxpayers, picks up the bill. I think there should be tough regulations, more policing, more education to children and parents about the risks of both vaping and smoking. Although there maybe lack of long-term data, and misunderstandings about vapes, with many seeing them as a way to stop smoking, unfortunately the opposite is probably occurring. The signs are that they are in no way safe, with the chemicals, etc, so despite lack of data, I think there is enough evidence. The report of Kyle Blight certainly isn't an isolated one, there are lots of others I am sure we don't hear about, and/or not in the news.