Rishi Sunak will ban disposable vapes in an announcement later today, in a bid to protect children’s health and prevent them becoming ‘hooked for life’ on the e-cigarette devices.
The measure is expected to come into force , with hopes it will halt the trend of vaping among children.
The crackdown on smoking comes amid fears disposable vapes risk hooking a new generation of youngsters on nicotine.
So, how exactly will the new smoking ban work? When will vapes be banned in the UK? Read on below for a full list of changes to vape and smoking laws proposed by the UK Government.
Pictured: disposable vapes on sale in a shop in central London. Disposable vapes are set to be completely outlawed in the UK, partly on environmental grounds, with around 844million vaping devices are dumped worldwide each year – the same weight as six Eiffel Towers
How will the new smoking ban work?
READ MORE: I’m a doctor – this is why I believe vaping is much worse than smoking cigarettes: ‘It barbeques your lungs!’
Following a similar policy to that adopted by New Zealand in 2022 – which banned the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2008 in a bid to eradicate smoking – the UK is looking to adopt similar measures.
In his speech to Parliament on November 7, the King said the Government would ‘introduce legislation to create a smokefree generation by restricting the sale of tobacco … and restricting the sale and marketing of e-cigarettes to children’.
This will effectively raise the age of tobacco sale by one year every year, the Government said, to prevent this and future generations from ever taking up smoking in the first place.
This follows previous measures introduced in the UK, which saw the introduction of standardised packaging in 2016 and the removal of menthol cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco from shops in May 2020.
‘No parent ever wants their child to start smoking. It is a deadly habit – killing tens of thousands of people and costing our NHS billions each year, while also being hugely detrimental to our productivity as a country.
‘I want to build a better and brighter future for our children, so that’s why I want to stamp out smoking for good. These changes will mean our kids will never be able to buy a cigarette, preventing them getting hooked and protecting their health both now and in the future,’ the Prime Minister said of his plans to eradicate smoking in the UK.
Are vapes going to be banned in the UK?
Today, Mr Sunak will reveal a plan to bring in new legislation, using existing powers under the Environmental Protection Act, during a visit to a school.
The measure is expected to come into force early next year, with hopes it will halt the trend of vaping among children.
The ban concerning the use of disposable vapes in the UK are partly on environmental grounds, with around 844million vaping devices dumped worldwide each year – the same weight as six Eiffel Towers.
Along with environmental concerns, the proposed vaping ban will come into force because of a surge in popularity among youngsters, with one in five secondary school pupils reported to have tried vaping this year. This number has trebled in the last three years.
A huge increase in the number of children and teenagers who have taken up vaping could see the Government restrict vape flavours, regulate their packaging and change their point of sale displays. Pictured: File photo of a man vaping
A huge increase in the number of children and teenagers who have taken up vaping could see the Government restrict vape flavours, regulate their packaging and change their point of sale displays.
A Whitehall source said officials are working on a watertight legal definition of what constitutes disposable vapes.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty said: ‘Vaping can be useful for smokers to quit, but should not be marketed to non-smokers and marketing them to children is utterly unacceptable.’
The consultation will run for eight weeks and measures could be introduced next year.
Although health is a devolved issue, authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have taken the unusual step of agreeing to a joint consultation.
The King’s speech promised a ‘further crackdown on youth vaping’.