The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) says new research confirms fears that the UK’s ban on single-use vapes is backfiring, with 26% of former disposable vape users now smoking more, returning to tobacco, or buying illicit products. A survey of 6,000 vapers and smokers, commissioned by ELFBAR, also found that over half of adults (51%) wrongly believe vaping is as harmful as smoking, and awareness of illegal vapes has risen to 22%.
UKVIA Director General John Dunne called the figures “deeply worrying,” warning that a blanket ban on disposables undermines efforts to achieve a smoke-free UK. The trade body is urging the government to launch a nationwide public health campaign on vaping’s relative safety, introduce a licensing scheme for vape retailers, reinvest licensing revenue into enforcement, and impose £10,000 fines on those selling to minors or trading illicit products.
“It never made any sense to us to ban this entire category, and now we have concrete evidence that more than a quarter of vapers have either resumed smoking, increased tobacco use, or purchased illicit products since the ban,” Dunne said. “Any one of those outcomes would be bad enough, but all three combined should be deeply worrying and urgent action must be taken to reverse this trend. If these are the numbers we are seeing after two months, then I dread to think where we will be in a year’s time.”
