Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) It is a quintessential part of any night out in the UK. Whether it be while waiting in the queue for a club, or getting some fresh air in a smoking area, chances are someone will pull out a disposable vape (or electronic cigarette), and chances are you will be offered a “pull” of it.
While the occasional “hit” seems rather innocent, sadly, the situation is more severe for another demographic: children. The NHS has released data suggesting that, somehow, 1 in 5 15-year-olds in the UK vape (in 2021).
This statistic is concerning for a number of reasons. It is intuitive that vapes are not healthy: you wouldn’t catch a Tour de France Rider inhaling chemicals before a mountain stage. And unlike cigarettes, the full extent of side effects are more or less unknown due to a lack of long-term research. This means anyone that started vaping at 15 is in the dark as to how this will affect them by the time they turn 30.
Another divergence between cigarettes and vapes is how tightly marketing is regulated. Cigarettes mostly come in dully coloured, uniform packs; with graphic images and health warnings in bold letters. Vapes come in bright colours, with catchy flavour names (such as “blue razz lemonade”) and relatively small warnings. These traits make them very appealing to younger consumers.
There are also environmental concerns. Disposable vapes are very hard to recycle, which means once one is finished and thrown away, it will likely end up slowly disintegrating in some rubbish pile, or at the bottom of the pacific ocean.
It is therefore hardly surprising that a current talking point in UK politics is the further regulation of disposable vapes. To this end, several different approaches have been suggested.
The Australian approach has entailed a total ban on sales. Unless you can provide a prescription for a vape, you won’t be able to buy one. This prescription model allows vapes to take their (apparently) original role as a gateway to quitting cigarettes for addicts. However, there are obvious concerns here, especially if this model is applied in the UK. The NHS is already flooded with complicated prescriptions. Having to diagnose addicts is notoriously complex and imprecise, and it is thus likely the Aussie way would add further strain onto the already overworked public service.
Furthermore, as the famous saying goes “where there’s a will there’s a way”. It is likely that under this model, an illegal market for vapes could open, with the danger of even less regulation and even more dangerous corner-cutting.
The solution could lie in making vapes less appealing to young consumers on a cultural level. Instead of the cool, flashy new thing in town, vapes could be portrayed as mundane nicotine sticks if marketing is more tightly regulated. This is the plan for the future in the Netherlands. Gone are the bright colours and flavours, replaced by a single, uninspired, flavour: tobacco, and less attractive packaging. It is likely that without the haribo-esque style, the vape would lose some of its appeal, and this would, at the very least, improve the UK’s current situation.
The vape has a social dimension that cannot be ignored. Much like the cigarette was in the past, it is a symbol of teenage rebellion and non-chalance. This is something that would be beneficial to acknowledge in any future regulation: make the vape remind people of grandpa’s tobacco pipe and it will lose its appeal.
