'It's just vape, nail, charity shops': Can anything save UK high street?

Re:'It's just vape, nail, charity shops': Can anything save ... by specproc on Thursday November 05, 2026 @01:37AM (#50375919)

They sell something that doesn't work so well online or at a supermarket. Ditto barbers, phone repair, or whatever racially-coded tabloid bugbear de jour. They work in a town centre, everything else can't beat the prices set by larger (often American-owned) businesses.

You can buy a vape online, but as a smoker, you don't want to wait a day when you've run out. Also as a smoker, I don't get why they're not regulated like tobacco. They shouldn't be sold alongside (and like) cigs. Seems very low-hanging legislative fruit.

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Re:'It's just vape, nail, charity shops': Can anything save ... by lelanthran on Thursday November 05, 2026 @04:43AM (#50377202)

> and should otherwise be treated like cigs (e.g. on packaging, licensing, advertising etc.).

I think you don't know why cigarettes are treated the way they are.

Hint: it's not because they are addictive. After all, caffeine is addictive and both tea and coffee is effectively unregulated.

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Re:'It's just vape, nail, charity shops': Can anything save ... by specproc on Sunday November 08, 2026 @04:26PM (#50417474)

Aye, but there's a big difference between nicotine and caffeine in terms of addiction potential, and the long-term risks of vaping aren't well understood.

They shouldn't be sold as sweets, which is very much how they're sold in the UK. Plain packaging, behind the counter, licensed. Not unreasonable I don't think.

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