Scotland’s vape capital: Why are our high streets changing? — BBC News

[0:02] One there, one there, one next door, refill station, vapes there. [0:09] The high street is changing. [0:12] Two up there on that side, two selling vapes, selling them there. [0:17] One type of shop is becoming more and more commonplace. [0:21] I think we're counting at least 20 outlets selling vapes. [0:26] There's good money to be made in selling vapes? [0:28] Yeah, there's good money to be made, yeah, definitely. [0:30] There should be a robust licensing system, [0:32] the same way there would be if you wanted to sell alcohol. [0:34] There's nothing in these shops that we shop in, apart the vape shops. [0:38] The only way to get rid of these is to replace them with something else. [0:42] We're following the vapour trail to the corner of Scotland, [0:45] at the centre of this search. [0:47] An area of stunning natural beauty, but also economic hardship. [1:02] This is the part of Scotland with the highest concentration of vape shops per 1,000 residents. [1:07] This is Greenock, on the west coast of Scotland's central belt. [1:12] Greenock, per person, has the most vape shops in Scotland. [1:17] Is that right? I can't believe that, that's unbelievable. [1:20] Does it surprise you? [1:21] No, not really, no. [1:24] Is there a lot? [1:25] Yes. [1:25] If you walk down that street there, there must be seven in the first 150 yards. [1:31] Greenock's got a really proud history. [1:33] It was famous for shipbuilding in more recent years. [1:37] It was involved in electronics, manufacturing, but it's facing harder times now. [1:42] In fact, statistically speaking, this is the most deprived part of Scotland. [1:49] My town's just wasted now. [1:51] Really? [1:52] You sound quite down about it. [1:53] It is, because as I say, it used to be a good town. [1:56] You just don't get a lot of people shopping here, because there's nothing in these shops [2:00] that we shop in, apart from the vape shops, second-hand clothes shops, and that's about it. [2:07] If it wasn't for vape shops opening, what kind of shops would open? [2:10] You know, because look at how many shops are just sitting empty. [2:13] They look right, they come in, and they've all got these stickers on them. [2:16] Shug stops us to show us his particular bugbear about vapes. [2:22] They peel them off and stick them all over the bins. [2:24] So these are all from vapes? [2:25] That's all from vapes. Disgusting. [2:28] Do you know this part of Greenock has the highest concentration per person? [2:32] It's got the highest concentration of vape shops in Scotland. [2:34] We'll see what happened to the one in Glasgow. If I had a vape shop, we'd be concerned. [2:41] Massive fire happening in the middle of Glasgow. [2:44] Glasgow central station remains closed this morning after a serious fire broke. [2:49] Earlier this year, a huge fire started in a vape shop in Glasgow. [2:53] Part of a Victorian building next to the central railway station collapsed. [3:02] Like Greenock, this is an area where there's a high concentration of vape retailers. [3:08] The cause of the fire is still being investigated, [3:12] but it's prompted discussions about the prevalence and safety of these outlets. [3:20] So why are more shops selling vapes? We spent the day trying to interview shop owners in Greenock. [3:31] None were willing to go on camera until we spotted this place, just off the main high street. [3:41] Lights and Gifts was a hardware shop until Sophie Saleem decided to diversify. [3:47] There was a trend a couple of years ago. The trend started and then just slowly, [3:50] slowly, we just had like one small shelf. They were just basically in that corner there. [3:55] Then we branched out to here. Then we got this bit, this bit. [3:59] Obviously this shop, was it originally a hardware shop then? [4:02] Completely hardware. [4:03] Completely hardware? [4:04] Yeah, like ironmongery, you know, like tools and stuff like that. And then slowly, [4:08] slowly, like I said, we just started the vapes slowly and just built it up from there. [4:12] Yeah. And is that where most of your custom is now? [4:16] Yeah, I would say like 60%. [4:19] 60% of your customers are here for vapes? [4:21] Yeah, come for the vapes. [4:22] That's quite a change from a hardware shop. [4:24] Yeah, cause before it used to be like nails and like tools, like kettles and stuff like that, [4:28] but now that can get online, you know what I mean, Amazon. [4:31] But people want to see the vapes when, not try them, but you know what I mean, see, like feel them. [4:36] Right on cue, a satisfied customer. [4:39] Yep. Hi. [4:40] What are you going for? [4:41] Hey, I'm going to go with that. [4:46] Berry medley. [4:47] Berry medley. [4:48] Hello, hello. [4:49] So you restocking this a lot? [4:50] Restocking all the time, all the time. [4:52] It's stocking the bag, it's stocking, you know, you go cashier every day kind of thing, innit? [4:56] Part of the appeal for Sophie are the more relaxed rules around selling vapes compared to cigarettes. [5:01] Like with cigarettes, it's all the same, they all look the same innit? [5:04] Yeah. [5:04] Just the writing on it, that's it. But see this, like it's attraction, it's customer stocking as well. [5:09] So it's, it's the packaging is quite attractive. [5:12] Yeah, yeah, definitely. [5:13] Some of the names are quite, Blue Raz Gumby. [5:17] It's gummy bear, GB stands for gummy bear. [5:18] Ah, right. [5:19] I don't know the exact figures, but there's good markup. [5:21] So it's good money to be made in selling vapes? [5:23] Yeah, it's good money to be made, yeah, definitely. [5:25] And what do you say to someone who says, like, we've spoken to a few folk on the high street and stuff, [5:29] who've said they think there's too many shops selling vapes around here, what would you say to them? [5:36] Personally, there are, I would say that as well, there are, like, I think there should be some kind of restrictions. [5:41] So you think there's too many shops selling vapes in Greenock? [5:44] Greenock, yeah, I think there are, like, but if they are selling, then you would keep them, [5:49] do you get what I'm saying? Like, if somebody is asking for, like, [5:51] some kind of product and they are selling in your shop, then you would keep it. [5:54] Vapes are profitable. As of 2022, there was an average 37 pence profit per pound compared to 8.5 pence [6:03] for tobacco. And that may explain why more retailers are turning to them. Edinburgh University [6:09] Research has revealed that between 2020 and 2024, around 1500 more retailers in Scotland started [6:16] selling them, a 28% increase. Three times as many opened in Scotland's most deprived communities [6:22] compared to the wealthiest. We headed east to Edinburgh to speak with the academic behind [6:29] these findings. My name is Jamie Pearce, and I'm Professor of Health Geography here at the [6:35] University of Edinburgh. Are there many health geographers? Or is this quite a... [6:39] Well, we're, we meet every other year, and there's about 400 of us turn up every year to [6:45] a conference, a few of us around. Lower income areas of Scotland, we seem to be getting more and more [6:51] retailers selling vape products. And although that's been the case across Scotland, [6:57] it's been disproportionately high in more disadvantaged areas of the country. [7:01] Can we see what's behind the growth being concentrated in areas of deprivation? Can we explain that? [7:09] So I think the reasons for that are that firstly, that there are high levels of vape. There are more [7:15] people vaping in more disadvantaged areas. There's probably a greater opportunity for retailers in [7:22] those areas to make greater profits from those products. And do we know what this might do for [7:31] health inequalities? Can we see at this point how problematic the concentration of these shops in [7:38] more deprived areas could ultimately end up being? So I think it's quite a complex story. So if you're a [7:43] smoker and you consume tobacco, it's really good news if you switch over to vape products. On the [7:50] other hand, those people who do not consume tobacco but take up vaping, we don't really understand the [7:57] long-term health implications of that, particularly amongst children and adolescents. Professor Pierce [8:03] says a licensing scheme similar to alcohol could have positive health benefits. That could limit the [8:09] concentration of vape retailers within a certain area. We've come to Kilmarnock in Ayrshire. It's [8:17] around an hour's drive south of Greenock, but the high street tells a similar story. Hi Richard. Hi David. [8:25] We're meeting with VPZ. They have 200 shops across the UK and want to see a licensing regime. It would change the [8:32] accessibility. It would change the potential of these being sold everywhere. You know, they should [8:37] be sold in registered specialist vape retailers. You see now hardware shops, you see convenience stores, [8:45] you see maybe even like hairdressers. What do you make of that when you see these kind of shops selling [8:51] these sort of products? Why? Why are we selling the products? They would never get away with selling [8:57] alcohol. So why are vapes allowed to be sold everywhere? We need to make sure the youth access is not [9:02] not there. You know, we need to have proper measures in place. That's a big problem, [9:06] people underage buying them. Absolutely. Richard is also concerned about the quality of products [9:12] and he doesn't think the ban on disposable vapes in Scotland, which came into force last year, [9:17] has changed anything. So before we came in, I popped into the shop and bought this £5 [9:23] from a shop selling vapes. Talk me through that. What sort of product is that? So this is a refillable or [9:29] reusable disposable, if you will. Right. So it has a pod with liquid inside and it has a charging port. [9:37] So what people are doing is instead of the kind of faffing about buying new pods at the same sort [9:42] of price as the device overall, they're just treating it as disposable. Do you think the manufacturers [9:47] know that's how people use it? 100%. 100%. It's a loophole. There's no way to know the quality of the [9:52] product. There's no way to know the quality of the battery. There's no way to know the quality of the [9:55] liquid that's inside the product. And where does the liquid come from? So it all comes from China. [10:00] It will be manufactured and exported from China. And then just anyone can sell that as long as [10:05] you're registered. There's no licensing scheme in Scotland. Just anyone can bulk buy these. If you [10:10] go buy a product for four quid and you sell it for a tenner, if you do that a hundred times, that's a [10:15] lot of money. Yeah. And if you do that a thousand times, and that's why it's a cash cow. Back to the streets [10:22] of Greenock. Let's talk about potential future areas like this could have. Kevin Green works with [10:30] big businesses to link them up with community projects. He says, if you want fewer vape shops, [10:35] do something about it. I don't like vape shops. I mean, it's almost like, almost, [10:39] we don't like vape shops. I don't like the bookies. I don't like this. I don't like that. [10:43] Open a shop. The only way to replace, the only way to get rid of these is to replace them with [10:48] something else. De-risk it. For local people to open local shops and to make those alternatives [10:55] to vape shops a viable option. And how do you do risk it? What's a simple way that that could [11:01] realistically happen? We need a policy that says, we've got vacant shops, [11:05] lying empty for a year, two years, three years. Have it for six months. Have it for 12 months. [11:11] Test out different ways of reinventing the high street. Test out your ideas. And that's just a lower [11:17] risk option. You get an empty unit like these ones over here. You don't pay rent for a while. [11:22] Give it a go, run the business. 100%. Legislation recently passed at Westminster may well result in [11:29] the tightening up of the rules around vaping. There's an ongoing discussion about how politicians [11:35] in Scotland address the phenomenon. And are we near saturation point where there aren't enough [11:40] people vaping for more shops to keep opening? Perhaps. But look across Scotland. We're not there yet. [11:47] As these outlets grow, so do the voices sounding the alarm about what this could mean for health, [11:53] inequality and our towns and cities.