After over a year of worrying news reports concerning underage vaping and illegally imported goods, the British government is considering outlawing the sale of disposable vaporizers. According to news reports today, the UK health authority is thinking of outlawing the widely used devices that almost eliminate the learning curve associated with vaping.
The story was initially reported by The Daily Telegraph, which cited anonymous government sources stating that the health department may release a survey as early as next week, proposing to outlaw "single-use" vapes as a way to stop young people from consuming nicotine. The Telegraph piece has primarily been cited by other news sources.
Although science minister Michelle Donelan would not reveal specifics, she told Sky News this morning that the Conservative administration would be making "further announcements" and that the issue is "something that we do need to act on."
Citing worries about both underage use and environmental effects, the Local Government Association, which represents local councils throughout England, asked for a ban on disposables in July.
Although the UK has a strong recycling system in place, many disposable vapes—which include lithium ion batteries—are thrown away incorrectly and end up in landfills. Commonsense fixes like requiring a fair deposit at the time of purchase for disposables, which would turn vapes left on sidewalks and in bars into valuable commodities, don't seem to be getting any attention.
At least since the beginning of 2022, when the nation started to learn about the seizures of illegal gray market goods, calls have been made in the UK to outlaw disposables. When prominent disposable maker Elf Bar was accused of selling overfilled disposables, the matter gained momentum.
A million vaping starter kits were to be given away to smokers in Britain in April, but health official Neil O'Brien also expressed concerns about "disposable vapes marketed to kids with...child-friendly flavours."
Simultaneously, the government launched a public consultation regarding youth vaping, requesting information on product appearance, potential child-attracting marketing strategies, and the environmental consequences of vaping, with a particular focus on disposable vapes, among other subjects. The Daily Telegraph claims that a fresh survey would "hone in" on certain issues, such as suggesting the prohibition on throwaway items.
The way the UK is reacting to disposable vapes is not unique. The French government's anti-tobacco plan would include a disposable ban, according to Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne's statement from last week. As flavored disposables have become more and more popular in convenience stores, the tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds, whose Vuse vapes have struggled to compete, is putting more and more pressure on the FDA in the US to take broad action against disposables.
