Disposable vapes ban will fuel black market, Fed warns

Banning disposable vapes will fuel illicit sales and will not achieve its aims of reducing littering and reducing their appeal to children, the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) has warned.

The Fed was responding to the call made by the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents local authorities in England and Wales, urging the government to ban the sale and manufacture of single use vapes by 2024 on environmental and health grounds.

Commenting, the Fed national president Muntazir Dipoti said: “A ban on single use vapes may, at first, seem like a straightforward, effective way of addressing underage vaping and litter.

“However, like the anti-smoking organisation ASH, we believe a ban would risk ‘turbocharging’ an already booming illicit market.”

And he added: “Vapes help many give up smoking and are part of life now. If we ban them the black market will become even more active. History suggests it would be optimistic in the extreme to think that prohibition stops people getting hold of products.”

Vape trade bodies have also come out against the LGA, saying such a ban would be discriminatory and would have negative consequences.

Public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has also refrained from supporting the call for a ban, noting the ‘risk of unintended consequences’. The charity instead reiterated its demand for excise tax on disposable vapes.