Image of disposable vapes courtesy of Vaping360

By Joshua Robinson – 

Initially conceived as an alternative to regular tobacco cigarettes, vaping was seen as a way to help people stop smoking tobacco, with the NHS advising that people shouldn’t take up vaping if they don’t already smoke. However, just like its predecessor, there are critics of vaping.

Many critics of vaping are concerned about the impact on children’s and young people’s health from vaping (especially disposable vapes). With research from the Government revealing that in 2023, around 69 per cent of vapers aged 11 to 17 in Great Britain were using disposable vapes, up from 7.7 percent in 2021. This has caused concern because of the unknow long-terms effects that vaping will have on people.

It is illegal to sell vape products to anyone under the age of 18, but disposable vapes are becoming a concern to the Government.

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It was announced earlier in the year that the Government would ban the sale and supply of vapes within England, Wales, and Scotland. With Northern Ireland also considering introducing the ban. When the ban on vapes was announced it was targeted at young people vaping, however, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggested that older smokers trying to quit would still have access to vapes.

Many individuals and organisations both within and outside of Parliament have expressed support for the banning of vapes, seeing it as an effective way for the protection of young people’s health, and with the Government’s desire to create a “smoke-free generation.”

However, many are against the ban, with them seeing it as an attack on people seeking alternatives to quit tobacco, and with the UK Vaping Industry Association saying that vapes have helped “millions of adults quit and stay off cigarettes”, and that the ban would put children at risk by “turbocharging the black market”.

As of the creation of this article and poll, there is no date for when the vaping ban will be put into effect. However, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told the BBC she was confident the ban would pass through Parliament by the time of the general election.

Image of disposable vapes courtesy of Vaping360. For more information, visit: https://vaping360.com/