{"id":23949,"date":"2025-04-23T09:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=23949"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:10:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:10:15","slug":"uk-disposable-vape-ban-unlikely-to-cut-vaping-rates-researchers-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/uk-disposable-vape-ban-unlikely-to-cut-vaping-rates-researchers-say\/","title":{"rendered":"UK disposable vape ban \u2018unlikely\u2019 to cut vaping rates, researchers say"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The upcoming UK ban on disposable vapes could have only a \u201climited impact\u201d on the number of people vaping, researchers say.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new study by University College London reveals there has been a \u201cshift away\u201d from single-use devices ahead of the ban taking effect on June 1. However, it says more people are simply opting for refillable vapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report, funded by Cancer Research UK, also suggests the rapid rise in overall vape use seen in Britain in recent years has already \u201cstalled.\u201d It warns that \u201cstricter policy options\u201d under review in the controversial Tobacco and Vapes Bill could have unintended consequences by stopping smokers from using vapes to quit the far more harmful habit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smoking kills around eight million people globally per year, including around 1.3 million from secondhand smoke exposure. Vapes, which do not cause any tobacco-related illnesses, are proven to be one of the most effective tools<\/a> for helping smokers quit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tobacco and Vapes Bill includes tougher restrictions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Disposable vapes are set to be banned in the UK under environmental legislation. Meanwhile the Tobacco and Vapes Bill<\/a>, which is currently being considered in the House of Lords, includes powers to heavily restrict the packaging, marketing and flavours of vapes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest research used the \u2018Smoking Toolkit Study\u2019 to analyse survey data collected from 88,611 adults (aged 16 and over) in England, Scotland and Wales between January 2022 and January 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this period, vaping rates increased from 8.9 per cent to 13.5 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the disposable vape ban was announced in January 2024, more than four in 10 (43.6 per cent) people who vaped mainly used disposables. This had fallen to less than a third (29.4 per cent) a year later, with the decline steeper among 16 to 24-year-olds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disposable ban could have \u201climited impact\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lead author Dr Sarah Jackson, of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, said: \u201cOur results also suggest that the Government\u2019s ban on disposables, coming into force in June, may have limited impact on vaping rates in general, given that vapers are already moving away from disposable vapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cIt seems likely that people using these products will move to reusable versions rather than stop vaping completely.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Vaping rates have already \u201cstalled\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Researchers suggest \u201crecent increases in vaping prevalence in Great Britain [have] stalled\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study said: \u201cAfter the new policy measures were announced in January 2024, trends in current vaping prevalence changed. Among both adults and young adults, prevalence was no longer increasing and instead remained relatively stable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Jackson added: \u201cAction is likely still required to reduce high vaping rates, but now that the situation has stabilised, policymakers may be reassured that it would be sensible to avoid stricter policy options currently under review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cSome of the options being considered may be more likely to have the unintended consequence of deterring smokers from using vapes to quit smoking.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Cutting smoking \u2018should be number one priority\u2019 <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Professor Jamie Brown, also of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, said: \u201cWhile it is understandable that policymakers want to take action to reduce vaping among children and never smokers, smoking remains the number one public health priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThese findings should reassure policymakers that they can prioritise measures, such as restrictions on marketing, packaging and display, which are least likely to undermine how helpful vapes are for people trying to quit smoking.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is important that these measures are introduced alongside other messaging and policies that continue to encourage and support smokers to quit smoking, such as mass media campaigns and the swap to stop scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the findings, Caroline Cerny, deputy chief executive of public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: \u201cThis data indicates that the Government\u2019s action on vaping is starting to shift both business practices and consumer behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a positive sign and shows that the planned regulations have potential to tackle the trend in youth vaping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the same time, it\u2019s important to strike the right balance: protecting young people while still supporting adults to stop smoking. With well-designed policies, we can achieve both.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 million smokers have quit using vapes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Gillian Golden, chief executive of the Independent British Vape Trade Association, said: \u201cWe welcome the good news that many vapers are already moving away from \u2018disposable\u2019, single-use devices ahead of the June ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe echo calls by the researchers for regulators to think very carefully about applying further restrictions on vaping before current and forthcoming regulations have fully taken effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVaping is not recommended for non-smokers, and sales to under 18s have been banned for a decade now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cNearly three million people in Britain have successfully quit smoking using vapes in the last five years, and there still are almost six million adults in the UK who could benefit from switching to a proven safer alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A Government spokesperson said: \u201cThis study provides promising evidence that the rise in vaping amongst young people has stalled. The health advice is clear that whilst vapes can be an effective quit aid for adult smokers, children and non-smokers should never vape.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The upcoming UK ban on disposable vapes could have only a \u201climited impact\u201d on the number of people vaping, researchers say.\u00a0 A new study by University College London reveals there has been a \u201cshift away\u201d from single-use devices ahead of the ban…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990002,"featured_media":23950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[25,347,345],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-23949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-news","tag-scotland","tag-wales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23949"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23956,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23949\/revisions\/23956"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23949"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=23949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}