Ban on Disposable Vapes Comes Into Force Amid Concerns Users Might Switch Back to Smoking

A ban on selling disposable vapes will come into effect across the whole of the UK on Sunday, in a bid to cut their use among children as well as the litter created when improperly thrown away.

From June 1, it will be illegal for all retailers to sell single-use vapes, whether or not they contain nicotine.

Traders who continue to sell them risk a £200 fine in the first instance, then unlimited fines and possible jail for repeat offences.

However, it will still be legal to sell reusable vapes, which are refillable and rechargeable.

The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the ban would “put an end to their alarming rise in school playgrounds and the avalanche of rubbish flooding the nation’s streets.”

Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said: “For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine. That ends today. The government calls time on these nasty devices.”

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The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) said that vaping was intended to help smokers quit, and disposable products were successful in aiding smokers to do so because the devices are simple to use and “most closely replicate the sensation of smoking.”

“We are concerned that this ban will encourage former smokers who have already transitioned from cigarettes—which kill 220 people every day in the UK—to return to combustible tobacco or opt for unregulated vapes,” said John Dunne, the UKVIA’s director general.

Similar concerns were raised by Yorkshire Cancer Research, which supports the use of vapes to quit smoking and asks the government to make sure vaping products remain accessible to those who want to quit smoking.

Stuart Griffiths, the charity’s director of research, policy, and impact, said on Thursday that disposable vapes are often used by people on low incomes who may find the initial expense of a starter kit to be too high.

However, the health service said that while nicotine vaping “is less harmful than smoking,” it is not completely harmless “and we don’t know yet what the long-term effects may be.”

Children under 18 and adults who have never smoked are advised against vaping, because it can lead to nicotine addiction.

One concern is that ex-smokers move on to becoming habitual vape users.

Dubbed the “smoking ban” bill, its main purpose is to create a “smoke-free generation” by banning anyone born after Jan. 1, 2009 from ever legally being able to buy tobacco products. However, it will not criminalise smoking itself.

On Thursday, the Scottish Parliament granted its consent to the national legislation, meaning that it agrees to Westminster passing a law that affects the devolved area.

The Scottish Government’s public health minister Jenni Minto said she was “determined to ensure a tobacco-free Scotland, where people live longer and healthier lives.”

Minto added, “The bill, once passed, will also ban vapes and nicotine products from being deliberately promoted and advertised to children, stopping the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine.”

Prohibiting certain people from buying tobacco products has sparked criticism from civil liberties campaigners, in particular raising how the law will create a two-tiered system where some adults can buy cigarettes and others cannot, based purely on their date of birth.

“Creeping prohibition will simply drive the sale of tobacco underground and into the hands of criminal gangs and illicit traders.”

PA Media contributed to this report.