Tag: vaping ban

2025: UK Ban on Disposable Vapes Starts in June

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The sale of disposable vapes will be banned in England and Wales beginning in June of next year, the government has confirmed.
Ministers in England said the move, first announced in January by the previous government but not enacted before the general election, is intended to protect children’s health and prevent environmental damage.
The government said it had worked closely with the devolved nations and that they would “align coming into force dates” on bans. According to media reports, Wales has already confirmed it will follow suit.
Vaping industry leaders have warned the move could fuel a rise in illegal sales of the products.
The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) said vape usage in England had grown by more than 400 percent between 2012 and 2023, with 9 percent of the British public now buying and using the products.
It is illegal to sell any vape to anyone under 18, but disposable vapes – often sold in smaller, more colorful packaging than refillable ones – are a “key driver behind the alarming rise in youth vaping”, the previous government said when it first set out its plan.
Public health minister Andrew Gwynne said banning disposables would “reduce the appeal of vapes to children and keep them out of the hands of vulnerable young people”.
October 24, 2024
Hong Kong Begins Consultation on Generational Ban
Junk boat in Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong (Credit: Kamonrat)
Hong Kong has started a public health consultation held that includes a proposal for a generational ban on vaping and other tobacco products. Generational Bans are often referred to as “tobacco endgame” strategies.
Last year, Hong Kong’s Council on Smoking and Health proposed a generational ban to begin in 2027 that would outlaw vaping and other tobacco product sales to anyone born from 2009.
The public consultation consists of a nationwide survey which started last Wednesday and ends on September 30th.
Health minister Lo Chung-Mau said that the consultation is based on four anti-smoking strategies, among which a lifetime ban on cigarettes for locals born after a set date.
Hong Kong’s government has set a goal of reducing the percentage of adults who smoke from 9.5 percent in 2021 to 7.8 percent by 2025. To do so, it is exploring four strategies:

Regulate Supply, Suppress Demand
Ban Promotion, Reduce Attractiveness
Expand No Smoking Areas, Mitigate Harm,
Enhance Education, Support Cessation
The first two strategies mentioned for reducing tobacco use are increasing taxes and introducing new age restrictions.
“With the efforts on education and publicity over the years, the smoking prevalence of youth in Hong Kong has dropped to a low level,” said the document, though the government also believes that increasing the minimum age to purchase tobacco from its current requirement of 18-years-old to 21-years-old wouldn’t be effective, according to media reports. So instead, it’s considering what’s known as a generational tobacco ban.
New Zealand passed a generational ban late last year and recent efforts have been made to introduce additional bans in other countries, including bills in California, Hawaii and Nevada. Malaysia is also considering a generational ban.
The generational ban is just one of a litany of strategies mentioned in the document. Other regulations being considered include plain packaging, restrictions on retailers displaying products, nicotine limits and higher tobacco taxes.
July 31, 2023
Ghana Makes Vape Sales and Advertisement Illegal

Credit: Adobe Stock
Ghana has banned all recreational use of vaping and e-cigarette products.
In a press release, the country’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) states that the “sale, advertisement and recreational use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) such as vapes and other non-nicotine tobacco products by the public” is illegal.
However, ENDS can be registered as a prescription-only medicine for the purposes of cessation therapy.
The FDA claims it has sent notice to manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, and retailers to remove all advertisements on social media, billboards and neon signs immediately and refrain from the importation of the products.
The FDA states that there “will be repercussions including sanctions” for failure to adhere to the rules.
July 9, 2023
Clearwater, Florida Bans Vaping at Beach, Parks

The city of Clearwater in the U.S. state of Florida approved a ban on vaping and smoking on city-owned public parks and beaches.
The city council unanimously approved the new ordinance and it goes into effect immediately.
It includes combustible cigarettes, vapes and e-cigarettes, but does not include unfiltered cigars, according to WFLA.
City council members said the ultimate goal is to reduce the environmental impacts on the community.
The city said the ban would protect beachgoers and marine life.
This comes a year after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that allows cities and counties to decide if they want to enforce a smoking ban.
The city of St. Petersburg has already implemented a similar smoking ban.
June 18, 2023
Former Hong Kong Official Wants Export Ban Back

Credit: Zapper
A former health secretary in Hong Kong on Sunday said it is not ideal for the government to allow e-cigarettes to be re-exported via the Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
A ban on alternative smoking products came into force in the SAR in April last year.
But there was an exemption for re-export via air cargo and the authorities want to extend this to sea-to-air and land-to-air shipments, to support the logistics sector.
Former Secretary Sophia Chan said such a move would be risky, especially with Hong Kong aiming to further reduce its smoking population from the current 9.5 percent to 7.8 percent.
The Council on Smoking and Health said earlier that a relaxation regarding re-exports would inevitably increase the diversion of such products into the community and significantly weaken the effectiveness of the city’s ban on alternative smoking products, according to RTHK.
“The process to fully ban e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products was difficult, but we did it. The main reason we did it was to reduce the risk,” said Chan.
“On the one hand, we understand the government needs to boost the economy after the pandemic. But on the other hand, we should push ahead with tobacco control efforts for people’s health and to reach the 7.8 percent goal in 2025.”
May 28, 2023
Palau Makes Sale, Use of Vaping Products Illegal

The small island nation of Palau has outlawed e-cigarettes and other vaping products after President Surangel Whipps signed a law for “a total ban on the import, advertising, sale, and use of e-cigarettes” on March 29.
The law – RPPL 11-27 – has expanded the country’s Tobacco Control Act to include e-cigarettes and will come into effect 60 days after being enacted, according to the NZ Herald.
Beginning May 29, businesses and individuals can be prosecuted if found with e-cigarette products.
Individuals who are caught violating the law could face a US$1000 (NZ$1588) fine and businesses or persons importing, distributing, and/or selling the product could face a US$20,000 (NZ$31,753) fine.
The initial bill was introduced in the Palau National Congress in July last year.
April 4, 2023
Taiwan Tightens Rules, Boosts Fines for Vaping

The National Police Agency confirmed to Taiwan News on Thursday that police can now issue on-the-spot fines of up to NT$10,000 ($330) to those caught vaping after Taiwan’s legislature passed amendments to Taiwan’s Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act on Wednesday.
E-cigarette users can either be fined on the spot, or photo and video evidence can be used by the government to send the fines to violators’ registered addresses, similar to fines currently issued for smoking in non-smoking areas, jaywalking, and other minor offenses.
The fine for vaping is now the same as for smoking in areas designated as non-smoking, between NT$2000 and NT$10,000.
The amendments passed on Wednesday also increase the legal age for purchasing cigarettes from 18 to 20, and prohibits the sale of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. Importers, manufacturers, and sellers can now be fined up to NT$50 million.
March 23, 2023
Indiana Bill Seeks to Ban Vaping in Public Spaces

Credit: Katherine Welles
A new bill in the U.S. state of Indiana’s senate hopes to ban e-cigarettes and vapes inside public places.
Senate Bill 1561 has passed the senate executive committee and now heads to the full senate for further consideration.
The smoke-free Illinois act was passed in 2007. It prevents people from smoking within 15 feet of entrances and requires no smoking signs to be posted in public spaces, reports WCIA.
But since vaping has become popular, Sen. Julie Morrison wants to make sure e-cigarettes and vapes are included.
A doctor with OSF Healthcare says this could help prevent secondhand smoke from being in public air.
The governor of Indiana signed a bill last year that included provisions cutting the 25 percent tax that wholesalers were to be charged for closed-system vaping devices to 15 percent.
March 10, 2023
New Mexico Lawmakers Want Total Ban on Vaping

Credit: pabrady63
Elected officials in New Mexico are hoping a new batch of bills that aim to make it harder to buy and use vaping and other tobacco products lay the groundwork for a statewide ban.
State Sen. Martin Hickey, told KOB4 news that he knows there’s not much lawmakers can do to keep lifelong smokers away from cigarettes – but he believes they have a duty to protect younger generations from the threat of addiction.
Hickey is also a physician, and he believes the state is losing the battle against teen vaping.
“The trends are, they’re going up, we were waiting to get another survey and I bet we’re probably moving close to 50 percent of high school students,” he said.
Hickey also said those trends are skewing younger.
“Apparently nine out of 10 middle school students have tried vaping,” he said.
Hickey offered no evidence to support his claims.
Since 2019, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of high school students who have tried vaping (1 time in the last 30 days) has dropped by 50 percent, and the number of middle school students has plummeted by 70 percent. During that same time period, the number of high-school students who “frequently” vape dropped by 37 percent and the number of middle school students dropped by 65 percent.
A recent CDC report titled “E-cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2022” found that 9.4 percent of middle and high schoolers surveyed reported currently vaping. In 2019 this figure was at 20 percent, and in 2020, 13.1 percent.
Looking at just middle school students, the CDC reports that 3.3 percent use vaping products.
Hickey admits there are likely too many barriers to enact a statewide vaping ban, but that’s why he and other state lawmakers are putting forth a menu of bills working to chip away at the problem.
Some of the ideas include raising tobacco taxes, banning flavored products, and allowing local governments to enact tougher restrictions against smoking. There are also proposals to prohibit smoking in racinos (a combined race track and casino) and fund prevention programs.
“Whatever doesn’t make it, we’re coming back, because this is so critical and fundamental to youth health,” Hickey said. “I mean, it’s, again, think of it as a chain reaction, it starts here with vaping.”
February 13, 2023
German Industry Group Blasts Call for Vaping Ban

Jan Muecke
(Photo: German Association of the Tobacco Industry and Novel Products)
Recent calls to ban e-cigarettes lack a scientific basis, according to the German Association of the Tobacco Industry and Novel Products (BVTE).
In a recent interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Manne Lucha, minister of social affairs, health and integration for Baden-Württemberg, said that e-cigarettes should be treated the same as combustible cigarettes and that flavored vapor products should be banned.
“It is a scientific consensus that the intake of harmful substances when vaping e-cigarettes is much lower than when smoking tobacco. With his ‘post-factual’ statements, the minister is causing consumer uncertainty with counterproductive consequences for health policy,” said BVTE CEO Jan Muecke in a statement.
Muecke cited a 2020 statement by the German Cancer Research Center, which acknowledged that a complete switch from smoking to vaping reduces the consumer’s exposure to harmful substances. He also quoted Public Health England’s finding that e-cigarettes are at least 95 percent less harmful than smoking.
According to the BVTE, e-cigarettes are the most frequently used smoking-cessation tool in Germany, ahead of less effective methods such as medical nicotine replacement products. The wide choice of flavored liquids, meanwhile, is a significant factor for adult smokers to switch to vaping, the organization wrote.
“Instead of fueling fears with false claims and misguided demands for bans, e-cigarettes should finally be promoted in Germany as an opportunity to minimize risks for smokers,” Muecke said.
January 31, 2023