After a successful nationwide Stoptober campaign which saw many people switching from smoking to the 95% less harmful option of vaping (Public Health England, 2018), many people are now facing the impending doom of a second UK lockdown threatening the closure of local vape shops. 

The same successful Stoptober Campaign was backed by the Government encouraging smokers to quit through their taking up vaping campaign. For those who took up the challenge during the month, they will now have no access to the same level of support & products from their local vape shops. 

Not only do local vape shops provide support for those wanting to quit smoking and ongoing support of those who have already made the switch successfully, in 2019 the UK vaping industry was worth over £1bn assisting the UK economy.  

During the first lockdown, it is thought that 2.2 million people were smoking more than before the lockdown with many of these people switching back from vaping to the more accessible and more harmful option of smoking.

The closure of local vape shops will not only have an effect on the vaping industry as a whole, but will effect those grass root stores that rely on their local customers to keep the business running, and may also entice people to switch back to smoking. 

By signing this petition we hope to assist the UKVIA in their challenge to the current guidelines and request that the UK Government reconsider their stance on vape stores and reclassify them as essential in the future. 

We hope to see that Vape Shops will be allowed to remain open during these unprecedented times.