Latest news with #nicotineaddiction
Sky News
3 days ago
- Health
- Sky News
Kids 'sleep with vapes under pillows' - but will sales ban on disposables have any effect?
As a ban on the sale of disposable vapes comes into force on Sunday, a doctor who set up the first-ever clinic to help children stop vaping has said she has seen patients so addicted they couldn't sleep through the night without them. Professor Rachel Isba established the clinic at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool in January and has now seen several patients as young as 11 years old who are nicotine dependent. "Some of the young people vape before they get out of bed. They are sleeping with them under their pillow," she told Sky News. "I'm hearing stories of some children waking up at three o'clock in the morning, thinking they can't sleep, thinking the vape will help them get back to sleep. Whereas, actually, that's the complete opposite of how nicotine works." Ms Isba said most of her patients use disposable vapes, and while some young people may use the chance to give up, others will simply move to refillable devices after the ban. "To me, vaping feels quite a lot like the beginning of smoking. I'm not surprised, but disappointed on behalf of the children that history has repeated itself." A government ban on single-use vapes comes into effect from Sunday, prohibiting the sale of disposable vaping products across the UK, both online and in-store, whether or not they contain nicotine. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said usage among young vapers remained too high, and the ban would "put an end to their alarming rise in school playgrounds and the avalanche of rubbish flooding the nation's streets". Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said: "For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine. That ends today. The government calls time on these nasty devices." At nearby Shrewsbury House Youth Club in Everton, a group of 11 and 12-year-old girls said vape addiction is already rife among their friends. Yasmin Dumbell said: "Every day we go out, and at least someone has a vape. I know people who started in year five. It's constantly in their hand." Her friend Una Quayle said metal detectors were installed at her school to try to stop pupils bringing in vapes, and they are having special assemblies about the dangers of the devices. But, she said, students "find ways to get around the scanners though - they hide them in their shorts and go to the bathroom and do it". The girls said the ban on disposables is unlikely to make a difference for their friends who are already addicted. According to Una, they'll "find a way to get nicotine into their system". As well as trying to address the rise in young people vaping, the government hopes banning single-use vapes will reduce some of the environmental impact the devices have. Although all vapes can be recycled, only a tiny proportion are - with around eight million a week ending up in the bin or on the floor. Pulled apart by hand Even those that are recycled have to be pulled apart by hand, as there is currently no way to automate the process. Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, a recycling non-profit group, said vapes were "some of the most environmentally wasteful, damaging, dangerous consumer products ever sold". His organisation worries that with new, legal models being designed to almost exactly mimic disposables in look and feel - and being sold for a similar price - people will just keep throwing them away. He said the behaviour "is too ingrained. The general public have been told 'vapes are disposable'. They've even been marketed this way. But they never were disposable".
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
UK's ban on disposable vapes sparks debate on effectiveness
A ban on disposable vapes goes into effect across the UK on Sunday in a bid to protect children's health and tackle a 'throwaway' culture. 'For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine,' junior environment minister Mary Creagh said. She said the government was calling 'time on these nasty devices' – a type of e-cigarette which are very popular with young people – and banning sales of single-use vapes or their supply in a crackdown on UK corner shops and supermarkets. Those caught flouting the ban will face a £200 (US$270) fine, while repeat offenders risk up to two years in prison. Young people and children in particular have been attracted to cheap and colourful disposable vapes, which have snazzy flavours such as mint, chocolate, mango or watermelon, since they were introduced in the UK in 2021. A display of disposable vapes in a shop in Liverpool. Photo: AFP In 2024, nearly five million disposable vapes were thrown away each week, according to Material Focus, an independent UK-based non-profit.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
What does Kent and Sussex think of the disposable vape ban?
Disposable vapes are less harmful than smoking cigarettes and have become a multi-million pound industry in the UK, so why is the government to ban them?The single-use vapes are discarded after one usage, with Brits discarding an estimated five million disposable vapes each is also harming the health of young people, often attracted to the sweet flavours and bright packaging, with about 7% (390,000) of 11 to 17-year-olds in the UK using vapes last of the introduction of the ban on Sunday, BBC South East has been finding out more about the reasons behind the law change and what it means for you. When vapes were first commercially available, they were meant to be used as a way for smokers to ditch of 2024, there were 5.6m adults vaping in Great Britain, according to public health charity Action on Smoking Health. But of those, 8% said they had never tried a cigarette before. What is changing? The ban has two objectives, which are to reduce environmental damage and help cut the number of young people addicted to will be no longer be allowed to sell or supply single-use vapes, either in shops or England, those found to have broken the law will receive a £200 fine and face up to two years in prison for repeat offences. The fines differ in Wales, Scotland and Northern vapes will remain largely available, as the government defines a reusable vape as one which can be refilled with liquid and recharged. A vape would be illegal if it cannot do both. How does vaping affect children? There has been an increase in youth vaping in recent years, with a quarter of 11 to 15-year-olds admitting they had tried it, despite it being illegal to sell them to people under 18, according to Minister for Public Health and Prevention, Andrew Jack Jacobs, a GP in Hamstreet, Kent, said vaping was a particular problem for young and developing lungs."The health concerns are all very documented now - it can cause damage to lungs and high doses of nicotine can potentially lead to heart arrhythmia," he said."I think the ban sends a message about the dangers and will help to limit the variety available." Earlier this year, the Welsh government's health minister, Sarah Murphy, said children were starting secondary school already addicted to Murphy said teachers told her that children were leaving lessons "two or three times" to vape, and were struggling to sit through their mock Reed, the UK government's environment secretary, has promised that "rogue traders" who continue to sell disposable vapes to children would face "serious penalties"."Single-use vapes get kids hooked on nicotine and blight our high streets, and we won't stand for this any longer," he added. What about the environment? It is nearly impossible for the plastic used in disposable vapes to completely break the plastic breaks into tiny microplastics, which can enter the food chain and contaminate the retailers that sell vapes must legally take them back once they are empty. But with an average of eight disposed of each second, most end up in landfill. "For the small number of single-use vapes which are sent for recycling, it's a difficult job because they contain many chemical components and are not designed to be taken apart," a government spokesperson said."They usually have to be disassembled by hand – a slow and tricky process which struggles to match the avalanche of vapes that are produced and discarded."In 2022, the Material Focus group found that more than 40 tonnes of lithium in single-use vapes were thrown out – the same amount needed to power 5,000 electric were also 1,200 bin lorry fires in 2023 caused by vapes being incorrectly disposed of. Here's what you had to say A public consultation in February last year found that 69% of people were in favour of the ban – including many who work in the vape employee at a vape shop in Hove, East Sussex, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC he and his colleagues were in favour of the ban."You're disposing of a whole battery every time, which is just no good for anyone, so we're all really happy for it," he said."We always try to tell people how much money they would be saving [with a reusable vape] and you always get more control with the nicotine, whereas all the disposables are just the strongest you can get."But some doubted the ban will work as the government hoped, instead pushing the vape trade "underground".Hove resident Brendan Barclay said: "It probably won't be effective. There's so many manufacturers out there that people will just get it by any means necessary, it's the same with drugs."It's just more work for the police to be honest."And some disagree with the ban altogether, with one man calling it "another lack of freedom".
