EPA
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 04:36
The United Kingdom will ban disposable vapes. Prime Minister Sunak’s government hopes to counter the rising popularity of vaping among young people. It is not yet known when the ban will come into effect.
Figures show that 7.6 percent of children in the UK between the ages of 11 and 17 vape occasionally or regularly. In 2020 that was still 4.1 percent.
“As any parent or teacher knows, the increasing popularity of vaping is one of the most worrying trends of the moment,” Sunak wrote in a statement. “We need to tackle the problem before it gets worse.”
Disposable vapes are the reason for the increase
It is already illegal to sell e-cigarettes to minors in the UK. According to the government, it is necessary to specifically ban disposable vapes, because they are “an important factor in the alarming increase among young people”. The disposable vapes are often sold in smaller and more colorful packages than the normal version.
With the new regulations, the number of flavors is limited, e-cigarettes are given simple packaging and sellers must keep them out of the sight of children. The ban would also be good for the environment: about five million disposable vapes are actually thrown away every week.
Smoke-free generation
The conservative government’s decision is part of plans for a smoke-free generation. In this context, a ban was announced last year on the sale of cigarettes to people born after January 1, 2009.
A ban on disposable vapes was also previously announced in Australia, France, Germany and New Zealand. Only in the latter country is the ban already in force.
Since last year, there has been a ban on the sale of flavored vapes in the Netherlands. Then State Secretary Blokhuis said in 2020 that e-cigarettes were often a stepping stone for young people to smoking regular cigarettes and that the flavors lowered the threshold for vaping.
2024-01-29 03:36:03
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