The IEA (Institute of Economic Affairs) have published a briefing paper stating that the proposed UK “Disposable Vape Ban Could Cost Lives”.
In the summary the main points below are raised…
“A ban on disposable vaping products would take away a safer choice from millions of adult smokers.”
·It is already illegal to sell vaping products to under-18s.
·The scale of youth vaping is often overstated. Twice as many 11–15-year-olds drink alcohol regularly than vape regularly.
·Environmental concerns are negligible since only tiny amounts of rare resources are used and vapes are easily recyclable.
·The sensible response to concerns about youth vaping and the environment is to enforce existing restrictions and to encourage responsible recycling, not take away the freedom of adults to choose.
The document discusses all the relevant information relating to this including the benefits of vaping, underage vaping data, environmental concerns and the risk of an outright ban.
There is also a quote from ASH (Action on Smoking & Health)…
“the risk of unintended consequences is too great for us to support a ban [on disposable e-cigarettes]’.”
Risks Of A Ban
Risks of banning disposables are broken down into possible outcomes…
·Higher smoking rates due to lower uptake of vaping by current smokers – “Smokers who use them for the first time do not have to learn anything about wattage, nicotine fluid strength or battery power”
·Higher smoking rates due to ex-smokers returning to smoking – “Without the option to vape their favoured products, many must be expected to return to smoking”
·Increase in underage smoking – “Fears of a ‘gateway effect’ have so far proved unfounded but by banning e-cigarettes that are currently used by under-18s, the government could inadvertently engineer a ‘gateway’ from vaping to smoking.”
·Growth of the “Black-Market” – “This is supported by evidence from Australia where e-cigarettes containing nicotine have always been banned and there is a major problem with children buying unregulated e-cigarettes on the black market.”
Conclusion
The document concludes with the following statement…
“Since it is already illegal to sell vaping products to the under 18s, it is a failure of law enforcement if young people are easily able to purchase e-cigarettes. If the government were to ban disposable vapes, this would not solve the enforcement issue. Ultimately, a ban on disposable vaping products would simply take away a safer choice from millions of adult smokers.
Banning a product because it is sometimes consumed by people who are already banned from buying it is a poor basis for legislation.
We do not ban cider just because some teenagers drink it. We do not ban 18 certificate films because some teenagers watch them. We do not even ban cigarettes because some teenagers smoke them.
The answer is to enforce the laws that already exist. Legislating is no substitute for governing.
There is no reason why children should be able to buy disposable e-cigarettes more easily than they can buy alcohol or tobacco.
The problem is a lack of enforcement, not legislation.”
UKVIA
The UKVIA (UK Vaping Industry Association) have picked up on this publication and have released their own statement here.
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UKVIA director John Dunne said…
“We wholeheartedly endorse the findings of this well-researched and evidence-backed report which warns of the very serious unintended consequences that such a ban could have.
“We need to send a very clear message to the government that a single use (disposable) vape ban could make the problems of youth vaping worse not better and lead to current vapers returning to smoking…a lose lose situation if ever there was one.
“It is clear that the government is not adequately enforcing the existing vape laws for legal, regulated products but it would be considerably more difficult to police the huge black market which would spring up to take their place.”