Disposable vape ban will drive people back to smoking

Reacting to the Government’s announcement that they plan to ban disposable vapes, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman for Lifestyle Economics, Connor Molloy, said:

“Current issues with youth vaping, although they are on the decline according to the latest ASH survey, are a failure of enforcement not of policy. We welcome the proposed changes in relation to harsher penalties and enforcement for those illegally selling vaping products to minors but extending this crackdown to a ban on disposable vapes will simply drive people back towards smoking and encourage a blackmarket of unregulated vaping products as seen in Australia.

“Disposable vapes play an especially important role in helping smokers make the initial shift to vaping due to the lower initial costs and simplicity. The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that vaping is significantly less harmful than vaping. This ban will simply it harder and more expensive to quit smoking, instead encouraging people to remain or revert to smoking, or to consume black market vaping products where the risks are completely unknown.

“The government needs to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater and disrupt the positive progress towards our smokefree goals. The disposable vape ban will lead to higher smoking rates than there otherwise would have been, leading to worse health outcomes rather than helping people to shift away from the tar and taxes to a much safer alternative."