Colchester residents and business react to disposable vaping ban

Downing Street has said disposable vapes – one-use small portable kits which are pre-charged, prefilled and come without buttons – have “driven an alarming rise in youth vaping”.

Recent figures showed a tripling in vaping amongst children in the past three years – with nine per cent of 11 to 15-years-olds now using vapes.

The proportion of 11 to 17-year-old vapers, meanwhile, has increased almost ninefold in the past two years.

Flavours - Non-disposable and disposable vapes come in numerous flavours (Image: Newsquest)

It comes after vape retailer MIST revealed in 2022 Colchester had the highest percentage of vapers in the UK, with Stockport coming second.

While in September, 2023 data from the Office of National Statistics revealed 4.5 million people in the UK vaped daily or occasionally in 2022, an increase of 7.7 per cent from 2021.  

One of the measures being implemented to stop illegal vaping is new fines for shops selling vapes to children, while trading standards officers will now be able to act ‘on the spot’ to tackle both tobacco and vape sales.

Vaping alternatives such as nicotine pouches will be banned for children who are “increasingly turning” to these addictive substitutes.

In a bid to deter youngsters becoming interested in vapes packaging is also going to be toned down.

Colchester resident Miles Caines said he was pleased with this decision, as the packaging is “clearly aimed at kids”.

He said: “As an ex-tobacco smoker who now vapes, the disposable ones can be a lifeline if you’re out and get caught short.

“Why not enforce the law in the first place with heavy fines for those that sell them to underage users. They can still also buy normal vapes so it’s a waste of time.”

Suzy Burnett, meanwhile, claimed the government has no interest in anyone’s health.

She said: “They are trying to blacklist vapes so they can get away with taxing them like they did with cigarettes.”

Popular - Colchester was named vaping capital of the UK by one vaping retailer in 2022 with numerous shops around town (Image: Newsquest)

Carol Mary Burt added: “When did we become a dictatorship where many have to go without for the few?”

Becky Lawton, however, said although she knows reusable vapes can help people cut down on smoking, she “always” sees groups of kids buying vapes in town.

Reader Chris Potts said though smoking helped him give up a 40 year habit “unfortunately there is now a whole generation of kids hooked.”

Ash, shop owner of Emberwood Vapes Colchester, said disposables were all at the legal maximum for nicotine, “often marketed disingenuously”, and are further “ruining the flavour” market by being so concentrated.

Supportive - Ash, owner of Emberwood Vapes, supports the government's disposable ban (Image: Newsquest)

Ash said: “A lot of people who have never vaped or smoked before have gone from never having nicotine in their system to getting to the legal maximum we can get in this country.

“So, it is a trap and people further waste their money on a device that they’re going to have to throw away."

Ash revealed that when he tried disposable vapes when they first came out, his gums started bleeding for about a week – the same as his colleagues, meaning as a shop, they "heavily advise against" disposable smoking.

Recycling - Emberwood Vapes' recycling unit has been in the store for nearly a year (Image: Newsquest)

Ash also said that children very rarely ever attempt to buy vapes at their store, as they know they need ID – which all shops are legally required to do.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said as well as the vaping law, the government’s commitment to stop children born in 2009 who turn 15 this year, or younger, from ever legally being sold cigarettes would be a “lasting legacy by protecting our children’s health for the long term.”

While Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins MP added: “The health advice is clear: vapes should only ever be used as a tool to quit smoking.”

This follows the government’s “Swap to Stop scheme” where almost one in five adult smokers in England have been given access to a vape kit alongside behavioural support to help them quit smoking.

Interest - Ash owner of Emberwood Vapes also said vaping was an interest for many people (Image: Newsquest)

The Daily Mirror revealed on January, 30 more than three quarters of the 120,000 responses to the government’s public consultation on vaping and smoking rules were online bots.

The government said 90,835 of the 118,756 received answers were fraudulent bots, which were disregarded, and an investigation has been launched to find out who was behind the fake responses.

Another reason why the government wants to crack down on vapes is the amount of littering vaping is causing.

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, boss of environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy says surveys have shown disposable vape litter has doubled in two years.

Marketting - Ash of Emberwood Vapes said his store was purposefully made to appeal to adults and not young people (Image: Newsquest)

Ms Ogden-Newton said: “An estimated 260 million are thrown away in this country every year, wasting precious scarce resources, including lithium.