Vape ban sparks panic buying as shops slash prices to beat deadline in just HOURS that could land you with £600 fine
Brits could be fined hundreds of pounds when fresh legislation comes into effect on June 1, and it will be illegal for businesses to sell or supply single-use vapes.
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Vape users have been "bulk-buying" and "panicking" ahead of the ban
Credit: PA
Both online and in store outfits will be affected by the ban and will include all vapes, regardless of whether they contain nicotine.
"The maximum amount those who breach their household waste duty of care could be fined will increase from £400 to £600," the Government website WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) stated.
Refillable vapes will still be available after the ban is imposed - but this hasn't stopped users stocking up on single-use ones.
Jack Leadbeater, 22, who works at Eco Vape on Exchange Walk in Nottingham, told the BBC people have been "bulk-buying" in response to new legislation.
"They've just been bulk-buying, really, making [sure] they can have them for as long as possible after the ban," he said.
"With the ones that they're getting, they're just using them and then they don't have to worry about them, they just chuck them away, whereas with the pods and stuff, a lot of people see it as a hassle and they don't really want to go for that."
Meanwhile, Douglas Eccles, from Rustic Vapez, agreed with the ban but noted how it's left customers "panicking".
"Everyone's panicking thinking all disposables are gone from Sunday, but it's not going to go that way," he said.
"A lot of people are bulk-buying them because a lot of shops are doing them really cheap because they know that any stock they've got from Sunday they've got to take off the shelves.
"At the end of the day it's business, you don't want to lose out."
Teen told he was coughing up 'pints' of blood due to a stomach ulcer caused by kebabs - 'excessive vaping' was to blame
The ban comes as figured revealed fourteen per cent of over-16s puffed on e-cigarettes between January 2024 and January 2025 — the same percentage as the previous year.
The crackdown will also halt the scourge of plastic littering after five million vapes a week were thrown away in 2023 — quadruple the number from 2022.
The move follows mounting fears that more kids are illegally buying disposables, many of which now come in bright packaging with flavours including bubblegum, candy floss and cola.
Ministers also want to stop users trashing the environment with the throwaway devices.
More than 40 tonnes of lithium, used in the batteries, was thrown out with disposable vapes in the UK in 2022 — enough to power 5,000 electric cars.
Scientists believe the ban has recently dented the popularity of single-use vapes.
Study author Dr Sarah Jackson said: 'The research cannot tell us why vaping rates have levelled off.
"But in the past we have seen changes in smoking habits before a policy change.
'Action is likely still required to reduce high vaping rates.
"But now the situation has stabilised, policymakers may be sensible to avoid stricter options that might deter smokers from using vapes to quit.'
The University College London study of 88,611 people in England, Wales and Scotland between 2022 and 2025 also found use of disposable vapes last year tumbled.
It went from 63 to 35 per cent among young adults.
WEEE waste professionals said: "Many people mistakenly believe that vapes can be tossed into their regular bin at home, but they're actually classed as WEEE, which has strict rules for disposal.
When vapes are disposed of in household bins, this can lead to fires in bin trucks and at waste management sites, posing a huge risk to workers and the public."
The worrying statistics come amid more and more vaping horror stories.
A self-confessed "vaping addict" says her habit caused her right lung to collapse twice when she was still in her teens - and left it permanently scarred.
Karlee Ozkurt, 20, vaped for five years, after peer pressure at school convinced her to start.
Now she fears she won't live past the age of "40 or 50".
Karlee claims taking up e-cigarettes was the "worst decision" she ever made and it remains her biggest regret in life.
Meanwhile, a man has urged people quit vaping after he was left with a hole in his lung and struggling to breathe.
Joseph Lawrence, 25, puffed on e-cigarettes every day for years before being rushed to A&E with an almost collapsed lung.
Plus, one parent was horrified when he discovered spiked 'zombie vapes' were being flogged to schoolkids on Snapchat.
A youngster was then left in coma, with another "vomiting blood".
Other school children have required medical attention after vaping, falling unconscious while experiencing horrifying heart palpitations, and dizziness.
What are the new vape laws?
Ministers have pledged to crackdown on poorly regulated vapes and e-cigarettes following an explosion in the number of teenagers who use them.
New rules for manufacturers and shopkeepers are expected to come into force in 2025.
They are set to include: Higher tax rates paid on vapes increase the price and make it harder for children to afford them
A ban on single-use vapes in favour of devices that can be recharged
A ban on colourful and cartoonish packaging that may appeal to youngsters
Tighter controls on flavourings and a ban on unnecessarily sweet or child-friendly ones like bubblegum and candy
More regulation on how and where they are displayed in shops, potentially putting them out of sight
Harsher penalties for shops caught selling them to under-18s
The ban on disposable vapes is part of ambitious government plans to tackle the rise in youth vaping.
A report published by Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) found 20.5 per cent of children in the UK had tried vaping in 2023, up from 15.8 per cent in 2022 and 13.9 per cent in 2020.
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