Pressure is mounting against UK lawmakers to impose an outright ban on single-use vapes, amid concern about their rising popularity among youth and doubts over regulators’ ability to control the fast-moving sector.
A government call for evidence on vaping and young people in England is due to end on 6 June, with action expected on measures to clamp down on illegal vape sales, as well as the marketing and placement of relatively cheap single-use vapes.
One government official said the latter was a particular worry. They said: “Some of the marketing and branding is pretty appalling – it can look like a sweet shop.”
Some health groups have wider concerns about the approach of the government, set out by the junior health minister Neil O’Brien in a speech last month, to encourage vape use as a substitute for traditional tobacco products, with a planned “swap to stop” scheme offering a million smokers in England a free vaping starter kit.
They argue that the relatively short history of e-cigarettes means there is minimal knowledge about long-term health effects, and that evidence about their efficacy as methods to stop smoking is similarly limited, pointing to countries such as Australia, which permit them only on prescription, according to The Guardian.
The most immediate battle is likely to be fought over single-use vapes, now the chosen product for more than half of young people who use e-cigarettes.