Scotland’s plan to ban disposable vapes will fuel illicit sales, retailers warn

Independent retailers are warning Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf that banning single use vapes will fuel illicit sales.

Unveiling his Programme for Government on Tuesday (5), Yousaf said a consultation on banning the devices would be launched next year. The programme includes plans to address vaping in Scotland both in terms of use of vaping products by nonsmokers and young people and tackling the environmental impact of single-use vapes.

Responding, the Fed’s president in Scotland Hussan Lal said, “Banning disposable vapes will simply expand an already booming illicit market.

“Vapes help many give up smoking and are part of life now.  I am confident the black market will become even more active.  These illicit products are already on sale at car boot sales, mobile phone shops, cafes and tanning salons as well as via the internet and by dealers delivering direct to homes. “Rather than looking to ban single use vapes, the government should be looking at responsible ways of recycling them and more educational campaigns.”

Association of Convenience Stores has welcomed the consultation, but said the sales ban would be an ‘overaction’.

“We welcome a consultation on preventing young people from accessing vaping products and addressing their environmental impact. The vaping category has grown significantly over the past few years and convenience stores across Scotland are committed to the responsible sale of these products,” ACS chief executive James Lowman said.

“More enforcement action and clearer regulation of the vaping market is needed, but a sweeping ban on single-use vapes would be an overaction to a category that can play a positive role in meeting Scotland’s 2034 tobacco-free targets.”

Anti-smoking campaign group Action of Smoking and Health (ASH) has also warned that a ban would increase the trade in illegal vapes as well as making it harder for some adults to give up smoking.

Scotland’s consultation comes as the French prime minister Elizabeth Borne suggested that France would consider banning the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland a day earlier on Monday, the UKVIA director general John Dunne has also noted that banning disposables was not the answer to combat youth use and urged the government to rigorously enforce the law instead.

“Recent Freedom of Information data shows that in 2021 there were only two fines issued in Glasgow and one in Edinburgh for illegal vape sales,” Dunne told the Mornings with Kaye Adams show.

“Children should not be vaping but they are clearly finding them easy to get. That is why the UKVIA wants to see fines of £10,000, per instance for selling to children – unless you hit these retailers in the pocket they are not going to change.”