Special keys sitting on under-18 nicotine pouch ban

The House of Keys will sit on Tuesday to take a final vote on whether to ban nicotine pouches for anyone under the age of 18.

The special meeting is taking place a week before the final sitting of this administration ahead of September's general election.

Nicotine pouches are small sachets that fit under the top lip and contain synthetic nicotine rather than tobacco - and are bought in round, brightly-coloured tins, leading to concerns they are appealing to children.

Moving the bill on 30 June, Cabinet Office minister David Ashford said it was a "simple approach to something we can do right now" to protect young people from "nicotine addiction".

The bill follows similar moves in the UK, where legislation - the Tobacco and Vapes Act - was passed into law, with the age of sale of 18 for nicotine pouches to come into force on 29 October.

Unusually, the bill had its first, second, and third readings in the same House of Keys sitting two weeks ago, as well as its clauses stage.

But after two amendments were made in Legislative Council last week, the Keys must now decide whether they are happy with the changes to move forward.

If it fails to gain a majority of support, the bill would lapse, and the onus would be on the next administration to start the process again if it wishes.

The amendments mean that if the bill is approved, the laws will come into affect the day after it receives royal assent, apart from clause 13.

This deals with the powers of the police, including search and seizure.

Moving the amendment Tanya August-Phillips said she was uncomfortable with how quickly the bill had moved through its relavent stages.

While she understood the "need for expediency", she said they needed to be careful "rushing legislation" that dealt with creating "criminal offences for children".

The bill, she felt, was "not being given enough time" or "enough finesse".

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