Disposable vapes to be banned to protect children’s health

Today the government has decided to ban all disposable vapes to protect the health of children in the UK.

Disposable vapes are marketed for children with a variety of sweet smells and packaging that would make it appealing for a child to want to buy.

The amount of younger children vaping between the ages of 11 and 15 has risen by 9% and the 11 to 17-year-old’s using vapes have risen even more in the past two years which is alarming.

Vapes we have read have never been tested and no one knows what the health impacts would be in years to come.

The government has banned not only disposable vapes but also restricted some of the flavours and packaging, it will also mean shops cannot display these vapes or put them near sweets, if a retailer continues and gets caught they will get fined heavily.

Other tobacco products such as nicotine pouches will also be banned.

The trade in illicit cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco and other tobacco products has far reaching implications. HMRC estimates that the illicit tobacco trade costs the UK economy around £2.8 billion a year in lost revenue – money that should fund our public services.  

Five million disposable vapes are thrown away each week, up from 1.3 million from last year. Over a year, this is equivalent to the lithium batteries of 5,000 electric vehicles.

The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said: 

As any parent or teacher knows, one of the most worrying trends at the moment is the rise in vaping among children, and so we must act before it becomes endemic. 

The long-term impacts of vaping are unknown and the nicotine within them can be highly addictive, so while vaping can be a useful tool to help smokers quit, marketing vapes to children is not acceptable.   

As Prime Minister I have an obligation to do what I think is the right thing for our country in the long term. That is why I am taking bold action to ban disposable vapes – which have driven the rise in youth vaping – and bring forward new powers to restrict vape flavours, introduce plain packaging and change how vapes are displayed in shops.   

Alongside our commitment to stop children who turn 15 this year or younger from ever legally being sold cigarettes, these changes will leave a lasting legacy by protecting our children’s health for the long term.”