The U.K. is taking steps to ban disposable vapes in an effort to protect children’s health, responding to the rising use among teenagers.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Monday the plan to ban disposable vapes to protect children’s health.
Even though selling any vape to individuals under 18 is already prohibited, the government believes that the disposable nature, diverse flavors, and distinctive appearance of recently introduced products in the U.K. market are significant factors contributing to the alarming increase in youth vaping.
There has been a threefold increase in the number of children using vapes over the past three years, according to recent data shared by the U.K. government. Among younger children, the trend is also on the rise, with 9% of 11 to 15-year-olds currently using vapes.
Single use plastics can fuck off.
Millions of Lithium batteries sat underground in a landfill site on top of the untold health issues in the near future.
All “disposable” products other than medical devices should be banned. There is no such thing as disposable there are only products that you are instructed not to feel guilty about discarding.
A similar one, biodegradable plastic is actually worse than regular plastic.
Plastic is poly-ethylene (or some other poly-something), which means you basically have a repeating ethylene molecule over and over. Biodegradable plastic simply has starch inserted in the chain every so often, which is then digested by bacteria and broken down into small plastic pieces - also known as microplastics. Instedad of having a big piece of plastic you can see, which isn’t great but at least it’s all in one place, you have a lot of tiny microscopic plastics you can’t see being spread through the enivornment and into food chains.
Wait wait wait. Tell me more. I’ve been using these but never did any research - are they really not biodegradable?
It’s like when companies make a big fuss about how their clothes are made from recycled plastic bottles - so eco! - but instead of plastic bottles in the seas, it’s now microfibres from your clothing shedding into the washing machine and entering the water that way. I wish there was more movement towards hemp fabric.
This feels like the only decent law passed by the Tories since…
In this context, the WHO argued that e-cigarettes, when viewed as consumer products, have not only demonstrated inefficacy in helping the population quit tobacco use but also concerning evidence has surfaced regarding negative health impacts at the population level.
It’s interesting the WHO say they aren’t that good at helping people give up smoking but, anecdotally, almost all the smokers I know have used them to give up. The rest have COPD and, weirdly, seems to be of the mindset of “ah well, the damage is done”. However, we’re working on one newly diagnosed so there’s still hope. If there are health issues with vapes (and the big scares are usually when someone is mixing up their own homebrew gunk) then it still has to be better than smoking cigarettes, especially the knock-off ones one guy smokes. 🤢
Disposable vapes are arguably not better than cigarettes, if only for the type and amount of waste they produce (lithium ion batteries). Obviously they’re better for the individual consumer, but they’re worse for the environment and everyone who lives in it.
However, this is what the reason for banning them should be, rather than the “think of the children!” nonsense which actually is more to do with a complete and total lack of enforcement - shops shouldn’t be selling them to children, that’s already illegal, and yet it is being allowed to happen with impunity. Banning disposables won’t suddenly end this.
Reusable vapes aren’t that much more expensive at the entry level, and they represent a far better option for everyone. But dealing with child vaping requires enforcement against shops and dealers.
Disposable vapes are arguably not better than cigarettes
I wasn’t arguing they were (they should never have been allowed in the first place as they are an environmental disaster), I was just curious about the WHO saying vaping didn’t help people quit smoking when everything I’ve seen suggests it does. However, they are going to be drawing on large meta-analyses so what do I know?
But dealing with child vaping requires enforcement against shops and dealers.
I was quite surprised that they are going to legislate to stop people putting vapes alongside sweets! You’d hope that basic human decency would prevent that, but apparently not.
Yeah the WHO comment is highly questionable, even with the vague uncertainty towards long term effects it’s very apparent that vaping is less harmful than smoking. If anything, the biggest concern should be what exactly is in the liquid you’re vaping - but then, no one ever paid much mind to there being cyanide and other nasty chemicals used in processed tobacco for cigarettes.
I’d support some legislation about where vape products should be, generally they should either be behind the counter or in 18+ only shops. Obviously you can’t trust a business not to use scummy selling practices, as evidenced by major petrol stations having vape stands right next to the tills.
My fella quit smoking at the end of September and has been using a reusable vape to stay off. I’m not a fan of vapes myself, but it’s definitely preferable to fags.
In my thread asking for advice on how to support him quitting, a lot of advice was: use vapes
I had a listen to the Sliced Bread podcast about it hoping it might help wean him off vapes, but after listening to it, I feel a bit better about it. Link if you’re interested https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001qtqk
