KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 – The United Kingdom is reportedly prepared to ban disposable vapes, after the government found that such nicotine products were overwhelmingly targeted at children.
The Guardian, quoting the Daily Telegraph, reported that the ban could be implemented as soon as next week in a consultation issued by the Department of Health and Social Care.
“We are concerned about the rise in youth vaping and the environmental impacts of disposable vapes,” a spokesman from the Department of Health and Social Care was quoted as saying.
“That is why we launched a call for evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vaping products – and explore where the government can go further. We will set out our response in due course.”
The Guardian reported that Australia has banned vaping without a prescription, New Zealand has banned most disposable vapes and restricted flavour descriptions, and Germany has prohibited flavoured e-cigarettes. France announced earlier this month plans to ban all disposable e-cigarettes.
Nicotine content in e-cigarettes is capped at 2 per cent in the UK.
“I am concerned that we are sleepwalking into a public health catastrophe with a generation of children hooked on nicotine,” Prof Dr Andrew Bush, a consultant paediatric chest physician at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, was quoted saying last year.
