UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will ban disposable vapes and heavily restrict the marketing of other vaping products, despite evidence that this could see more people smoking. Critics say his team is “rushing” measures through in an attempt to gain popularity ahead of a significant general election.
Government officials have centred their plans on the protection of children’s health, though much has also been made of the environmental damage—including litter—from disposable vapes following reports that almost five million are thrown away every week.
Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, said she was “shocked to hear from so many children as young as 12 who told me vaping was normalised among their peers and on school premises,” adding that “this ban will help and many children and parents will be relieved.”
But a paper published in the journal Public Health last week said the ban actually has “the potential to slow progress in driving down smoking prevalence and reducing smoking-related harm (through switching from smoking to vaping) and could worsen health inequalities.” It stressed that such “trade-offs” require “careful consideration.”
Sunak has, however, chosen to avoid these considerations, preferring to focus instead on the potential political upsides of the ban. Observers of the UK political scene often note that regulation is the last resort of an exhausted government, such as the partial outlawing of “XL Bully” dogs late last year. For Christopher Snowden—head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs—the policy smacks of opportunism rather than public health.
Ministers, he said, are “intent on rushing all this through before anybody thinks about it too carefully.” Snowden argued:
None of the anti-vaping policies proposed by the government are evidence-based and they will likely lead to more people smoking. It’s all about short term politics.
While polls suggest that the vast majority of Britons support a ban on disposable vapes, the medical evidence also suggests that vaping provides a useful mechanism for those wishing to give up the more harmful habit of smoking tobacco.
As part of its wider plan to bring about a smoking-free generation, the government has also announced new powers to restrict flavoured vapes—marketed towards the young—and to “ensure that manufacturers produce plainer, less visually appealing packaging.” The ban will apply across the whole of the UK.
Noting the environmental concerns surrounding vaping, the lobby group the World Vapers’ Alliance says the “waste generated by disposable vapes is undeniable,” but called for better regulation and innovation rather than an outright ban. Sunak’s desperate attempts to appear relevant are set to sabotage this growing industry.
