Revelations that our kids are getting hold of knock-off vapes containing illegal levels of dangerous chemicals could not be more concerning.
The shocking lab analysis of a sample of e-cigs seized at a school in England found children were being exposed to twice the safe daily amount of lead and nine times the safe level of nickel.
We’ve known for a long time of the harmful – even sometimes fatal – effects of lead poisoning. That’s why lead plumbing has been banned for 25 years and most lead paint is outlawed.
For kids, it can affect brain development and even the central nervous system. The criminals and retailers who enable them in bringing dodgy vapes to our shores, chock-full of these toxic substances – and then selling them to our children – are the lowest of the low.
And it reinforces our view that single-use disposable vapes should be banned outright.
These brightly coloured, sweet flavoured gadgets seem overwhelmingly like they’re being targeted at our youngsters – rather than getting people off cigarettes, they appear to be hooking a new generation on nicotine.
Not to mention the hugely damaging impact of these polluting devices on our environment, as they litter our streets in their thousands, waste precious lithium and risk bin and landfill fires.
Scotland’s teen vaping surge is worrying enough. But for a bootleg black market to take off where trading standards and health and safety are thrown out the window is a frightening new dimension that will rightly worry parents sick.
We cannot have a Wild West situation where our kids are inhaling dodgy, untested and illegal vapes with no idea of what’s in them.
The long-term health of the next generation is what’s at stake – and we must not fail them.
Yousaf’s challenge to make party electable before General Election
The SNP is having a hellish time and only a fool would predict better days lie ahead. Party finances are being investigated by the police and there are divisions in the SNP and the wider independence movement.
The rifts are not just on how to achieve independence, but have flared up on issues like gender recognition legislation.
The SNP has lost 30,000 members and is no longer flush with cash. A new opinion poll shows this slump is having an impact – with Labour potentially in line for nearly two dozen seats at the next general election.
Humza Yousaf must get a grip on his party before the decline is irreversible.
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