UK plans to ban disposable vapes next year

LONDON: Disposable vapes will be banned in the UK next year to protect children´s health and tackle “throwaway” culture, ministers said on Thursday.

Public Health and Prevention Minister Andrew Gwynne said it was “deeply worrying” that a quarter of 11 to 15-year-olds used a vape last year.

“Banning disposable vapes will not only protect the environment, but importantly reduce the appeal of vapes to children and keep them out of the hands of vulnerable young people,” he said.

Plans to ban single-use vapes were first announced in January by the previous Conservative government but not enacted before it lost power in July. Gwynne called the law “the biggest public health intervention in a generation”, adding that it would “protect young people from becoming hooked on nicotine and pave the way for a smoke-free UK”.