Is the UK banning single-use vapes? What officials have said | UK News
Disposable single-use vapes are widely popular in the UK and come in sweet and fruity flavours like pink lemonade, gummy bear and watermelon – but there are serious concerns over the impact on health.
Some experts argue that the flavours, combined with the colourful packaging, mean they are deliberately aimed at youngsters and put their health at risk.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has called for a ban on disposable vapes, warning that ‘youth vaping is fast becoming an epidemic among children’.
The College warned that e-cigarettes ‘are not a risk-free product and can be just as addictive, if not more so than traditional cigarettes’. Most contain nicotine.
So is the UK set to ban single-use vapes?
Here is what you need to know.
Is the UK banning single-use vapes?
Ministers are said to be drawing up plans to ban single-use vapes, according to the Telegraph.
A number of leading doctors have called for a ban, along with councils and public waste campaigners.
Around 5 million single use vapes are discarded in the UK every week, more than four times as many as in 2022, according to The Guardian.
Science and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan told Sky News: ‘We have been doing a review because this is a very worrying trend that we’re seeing – of young children taking up vaping that had never smoked before, and it is extremely dangerous to their health and their wellbeing.
‘It’s something that we do need to act on and, as a Government, what we’re trying to do is recognise what are the key challenges and grip them.’
She did not deny the reports that disposable vapes will be banned.
A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesman said: ‘We are concerned about the rise in youth vaping and the environmental impacts of disposable vapes…we will set out our response in due course.’
This is expected to be revealed in a consultation by the DHSC possibly as early as next week.
A full ban on vapes without prescription (as is the case in Australia) is not expected as UK experts are said to believe it is safer than smoking for those who already smoke.
France is also expected to ban all disposable vapes.
What have experts said?
Professor Andrew Bush, a consultant paediatric chest physician at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, said: ‘I am concerned that we are sleepwalking into a public health catastrophe with a generation of children hooked on nicotine.’
The Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has also called for a ban, saying: ‘Many children who are addicted to vaping have never even smoked tobacco, with vaping acting as a gateway rather than a quitting strategy.
‘Children deserve to lead long, happy, healthy lives, which is why I am unequivocal in my view that no child should be smoking or vaping.’
Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, has previously said: ‘If you smoke, vaping is much safer; if you don’t smoke, don’t vape, and marketing to children is utterly unacceptable.’
Scott Butler, the executive director at Material Focus, said that disposable vapes ‘are a strong contender for being the most environmentally wasteful, damaging and dangerous consumer product ever made.’
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a large increase in vaping among teenagers and young adults in Britain, and the NHS has seen a rise in the number of children admitted due to vaping.
Around 1 in 7 of people aged 16-24 vape daily or regularly.
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