The government has confirmed they are banning disposable vapes
The policy has been up for contention since October when the government launched its consultation on smoking and vaping.
However, last week, they confirmed that they will be going ahead with plans to ban disposable vapes.
“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,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
“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.”
But what exactly is being banned?
In terms of vapes, it seems that the disposable ones will disappear from our shelves.
The brightly coloured and sweet flavoured vapes are seen as being appealing to children, and so it’s expected that these will be no more.
Even for non-disposable vapes, the government has confirmed they plan to introduce ‘plain packaging’ so that they don’t encourage young people to pick them up.
In addition, displays of vapes could potentially change in order to make them more plain and less appealing to kids.
The government is also planning to make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, in order to create a ‘smokefree generation’.
