Shops to require licence to sell vapes under proposed crackdown on rogue traders A licensing system would ‘root out’ rogue operators and give enforcement officers stronger powers to shut them down, the Government said.

Govt launches call for evidence to shape new regulations on key aspects of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
www.independent.co.uk/news/busines...

SRNT Europe's 2025 conference kicks off two weeks today and I'm delighted to be presenting alongside most of my colleagues from UCL's Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group.

You can catch us across the three days at the following times. Hope to see lots of you there!

#SRNTE2025

Participants required
Dissertation study to explore the use and perceptions of nicotine pouches among young adults in the UK.
Participants will receive a £10 voucher as a thank you.
Please complete the short eligibility survey here: qualtrics.ucl.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_...

🚨 Living in UK, 18–24 years? Help UCL research! 🚨

Take a 20-min survey on nicotine pouches – no experience needed.

🎁 Enter to win 1 of 2 £25 Love2Shop vouchers!

👉 qualtrics.ucl.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_...

@nicotinepouchstudy.bsky.social

Level of support for proposed vaping policies: an online survey of UK vapers, 2024 The UK government has proposed a range of policies to reduce youth vaping. This study aimed to understand levels of support for the various policies a…

Our new paper examines level of support for proposed vaping policies via an online survey of UK vapers age 16+.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @jamiebrown.bsky.social @lionshahab.bsky.social @ucl-targ.bsky.social @sharoncox.bsky.social

SS of Trends in motives for attempts to reduce alcohol consumption among risky adult drinkers in England: A representative population survey, 2017–2024☆ Dimitra Kale et al

A new study by @ucl-targ.bsky.social shows that between 2017–2024, motives for reducing alcohol consumption among risky drinkers in England shifted, with cost and social factors nearly doubling. Health concerns stayed the most common motive. lnkd.in/ehE2k3wQ

How we fell out of love with alcohol - and it's NOT just down to Gen Z Alcohol consumption in Britain has plunged 10 per cent since the millennium, with figures showing rates have dipped among all age groups.

Nice coverage of @ucl-targ.bsky.social's Alcohol Toolkit Study in this article.. www.alcoholinengland.info/graphs/month...

I would (and did!) say though that any population declines we are seeing are being driven by declining consumption among younger people..
www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic...

Two of the best stop smoking medications have been available in the UK since 2024 – so why is no one using them? Why almost no one is using the stop-smoking drug that could save thousands of lives.

Check out piece in @uk.theconversation.com on varenicline & cytisine, available but under used tools to help people #quitsmoking
@jlivbanks.bsky.social of @oxfordtag.bsky.social
@lionshahab.bsky.social & Dimitra Kale of @ucl-targ.bsky.social

theconversation.com/two-of-the-b...

Ethics, Transparency, And Trust: A Call For More Open Science In Qualitative Research In this blog, Dr Sharon Cox (BR-UK Deputy Director) expands on the challenges and possible solutions when adopting an open science approach to qualitative research.

New blog from me for @behaviourresuk.bsky.social

Can we overcome the challenges of making qualitative research more open?

Yes!👇

With thanks to: @adam42smith.bsky.social @beckibooks.bsky.social @profalexstevens.bsky.social for their input to our recent webinar

usher.ed.ac.uk/behavioural-...

We have a new paper out today in Lancet Public Health looking at increases in alcohol-specific deaths in England.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The price of a cigarette: 20 minutes of life? Click on the article title to read more.

Smoking kills.

It’s a message most people will have heard. But just how much does smoking affect life expectancy?

In a new editorial, we estimate that on average, each cigarette steals approximately 20 minutes of life.

@robertjwest.bsky.social @ucl-targ.bsky.social

Delighted to be attending the UKRI’s Research Leadership Symposia on behalf of @behaviourresuk.bsky.social and @ucl-targ.bsky.social connecting with experts across the sciences (it’s cold up north)

The Smoking Toolkit Study suggests non-daily smoking has increased since 2020.

Over this period, estimates of smoking prevalence have diverged from official Annual Population Survey (APS) estimates.

Take home: APS may be underestimating true smoking prevalence in England.

Dr Sharon Cox sharing the findings of the SCeTCH trial, which offered e-cigarettes to smokers experiencing homelessness to help them quit.

Results can’t yet be shared on social media, but a very impressive effort by a fantastic team… watch this space!

#EcigSummit @sharoncox.bsky.social

Around 127,500 18- to 25-year-olds in the United Kingdom start smoking regularly each year (~350 each day), estimate Sarah Jackson et al.

academic.oup.com/ntr/advance-... @drsarahejackson.bsky.social

Really pleased to be at the e-cigarette summit presenting alongside @katieeast.bsky.social @jasminekhouja.bsky.social #womeninscience 👊🏼

Prof Jamie Brown outlines potential reasons for the discrepancy between estimates of smoking prevalence in the APS and Smoking Toolkit Study.

Changes in APS question wording may mean it’s missing a chunk of non-daily smoking - which has become more common.

#EcigSummit @jamiebrown.bsky.social

Official figures may present an overly optimistic view of the smoking landscape.

Population-level approaches remain critical.

Timely & important research by @robertjwest.bsky.social @susanmichie.bsky.social et al. Using Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology, the team studied smoking cessation RCT data to train ML algorithms w/ a view to predicting outcomes as part of the Human Behaviour-Change Project #BehaviouralScience

New paper shows a substantial rise in vaping among ex-smokers in England over the past decade.

bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

The updated website for the Drink Less app has just been launched - drinklessalcohol.com 💻🥳

On @lbc.co.uk today discussing smoking and vaping. Once more, the line “we don’t know what nicotine is doing to our young people and their brains”. But we do have evidence, young people have been smoking - and using nicotine this way - for generations. This is a common misperception and fear.