UK Disposable Vape Ban 2024
The UK government has put forward a Tobacco and Vapes Bill that is intended (amongst other things) to stop the sale of disposable vapes in the UK. The Bill covers both tobacco and vaping products and the key legislation will:- make it an offence for anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 to be sold tobacco products.
- restrict vape flavours.
- restrict how vapes are displayed in stores.
- restrict packaging and product presentation for vapes.
- apply the above restrictions to non-nicotine vapes and other consumer nicotine products such as nicotine pouches.
- implement a ban on the sale and supply of disposable vapes.
The Tobacco and Vape Bill is due to be published shortly and will have to go through both the House of Commons and Lords before it can reach a stage where it can finally become law.
Why is the government banning disposable vapes in the UK?
The government is arguing that the rise in youth vaping and the environmental impact caused by disposable vapes warrants a ban of these types of products.
We believe that all a ban would do is create an even larger unregulated market which would be devoid of any age verification and product regulations. The issue with youth access is enforcement, as the current penalties are not severe enough to deter retailers from selling to under-18s.
In terms of environmental impact, manufacturers need to have a recycling scheme in place before their products are allowed on the market for sale. Better border enforcement would help to achieve this as well as stopping non-compliant products reaching customers.
Can I still buy disposable vapes?
Yes, disposable vapes are still available for sale in the UK until the Bill passes and becomes law. Even if/when the ban becomes law there will be in all likelihood a time period for retailers to sell through their stock holdings.
When will disposable vapes be banned in the UK?
It is tough to guess when the law will actually be implemented but the best guess would be no earlier than late 2024 / early 2025. Once the Bill is published it will go through several readings in both Houses in Parliament.
If Disposable Vapes are banned, what can you do?
Speak to your local MPs and lawmakers and share your views. This is not just a ban on disposable vapes but it could lead to a restriction of flavours also.
We would strongly encourage you not to return to smoking cigarettes. All the evidence and research points to vaping being at least 95% safer. Disposable vapes are convenient and easy to use but Pod Kits offer a similar experience and are an easy transition.
What does ukecigstore.com think should happen?
We feel that banning products rarely works, all that happens is that these products appear on the black market and in the hands of organised crime. Youth vaping can be prevented by only allowing companies with a robust age verification process to sell these products. Currently, disposable vapes are sold in every high street by retailers who do not have any age verification processes as there are no consequences, perhaps a small fine after several warnings.
There needs to be better recycling schemes easily accessible to customers in order to recycle their disposable vapes. The current WEEE system could be extended to also cover these products.
There is not enough narrative regarding non-compliant products that are readily available in the UK. These products are not approved for sale in this country and need to be stopped at the border and anyone involved in their trade should receive a substantial punishment.
What we don’t want to happen is for product to lead to smokers and vapers reverting back to traditional cigarettes. This goes against the government's own Smoke Free 2030 plan.