Disposable vape ban welcomed in Plymouth

Public health were called in after children became ill

Plymouth’s director of public health has welcomed a move by the government to ban the sale of single-use vapes from June next year.

Plymouth schools have seen a rise in children becoming ill through using vapes which have been contaminated with THC (the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis) and the synthetic drug spice.

One headteacher told Plymouth City Councillors earlier this month she feared a fatality would occur.

Public health were called in after a number of secondary school age children had to be taken to hospital.

The city council has been proactive in leading a campaign to raise awareness of the danger of illegal vaping to young people through workshops and talks in school and youth groups.

Members say vaping is also having an impact on children’s behaviour and leading to more exclusions in school.

Dr Ruth Harrell, Plymouth’s director of public health, said: “There has been growing concern about the number of children who vape, and the majority use disposable vapes.

“Disposable vapes are cheap and easy to get hold of, and often appear to be marketed to appeal to children, so there is good evidence that banning them will reduce the availability to children.

“These disposable items are not environmentally friendly and in addition, contain batteries which can cause fires if they are not disposed of very carefully.

“Although we know that for adults who already smoke tobacco, vapes can help them to cut down or stop, we want to do everything we can to stop people and children in particular from starting to vape, and so we welcome this move by the government.”

The ban will not apply to rechargeable or refillable devices.

Last year, recycling campaigners Materials Focus estimated that almost five million single-use vapes were either littered or thrown away in general waste every week in the UK, almost four times as much as the previous year and the equivalent of eight being thrown away per second.

In 2022, they found more than 40 tonnes of lithium from single-use vapes was discarded, which is the same amount used to power 5,000 electric vehicles.

Vape usage in England grew by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023, with 9.1% of the British public now buying and using these products.

It is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to people aged under 18, but a recent survey last year found one in five teenagers in England had tried vaping, an increase of a third on the previous year.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill which had cross party support under the previous government and is currently going through parliament will ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born from 2009 onwards, and bring in on-the-spot fines for retailers caught selling to under-18s, leading to a smoke-free generation.

Ministers says thousands of lives will be saved and billions of pounds for the NHS, freeing up new resource which can be spent to improve outcomes across the UK.

The legislation does not ban smoking outright as anyone who can legally buy tobacco now will still be able to do.