The UK government has unveiled a consultation proposing 12 new measures to curb the sale and appeal of vapes and tobacco to children and teenagers. The proposals, announced by the Department of Health and Social Care, aim to reduce the number of young people taking up vaping and smoking.
Consultation Launched to Tackle Youth Vaping
Health Secretary James Murray announced the UK-wide consultation last week, which seeks views on measures including plain white packaging for vapes, restricting flavour names, and keeping vapes out of sight in shops. The move follows an Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) report suggesting that around one million 11 to 17 year olds in Great Britain tried vaping in 2025.
Murray stated: "The evidence is clear: there are too many young people experimenting with vapes, attracted by the array of flavours, bright colours and marketing displays. We want a healthier future for the next generation, so we must act now to reduce the appeal of addictive vapes to our children."
Balancing Regulation with Adult Quitting Aids
Hazel Cheeseman, Chief Executive of ASH, emphasised the need for balance: "Protecting children from harmful vape marketing is the right thing to do. Attractive, colourful branding and images have driven the appeal of vapes to children leading to an increase in use. At the same time there is a careful balance to strike with regulations. While vapes are not harm free, they are significantly less harmful than smoking, and vapes have helped millions of people successfully stop smoking in recent years. The task now is to thread the needle of making vaping less appealing to children without making it less effective for adults who want to quit smoking. Get that balance wrong, and we risk slowing progress against smoking, the leading cause of preventable death."
The 12 Proposed Measures
The consultation outlines 12 key proposals:
- Introducing plain white packaging for vaping and nicotine products, with limited branding and standardised safety information.
- Restricting flavour names to simple recognisable descriptions like 'apple', banning concept, sensory, confectionery, dessert, and alcohol-related names.
- Mandating vape devices to be white, black, or grey with no images, limited branding, and no cosmetic lights; screens only for safety info like battery level.
- Restricting shop displays of vapes in the same way as tobacco products.
- Extending plain packaging and health warnings to all tobacco products, including herbal smoking products, cigarette papers, and heated tobacco devices.
- Introducing positive quit-support messages inside all tobacco products.
- Extending tobacco display restrictions to all tobacco-related products, cigarette papers, and herbal smoking products.
- Removing display exemption for bulk tobacconists, including duty-free shops and airports.
- Restricting heated tobacco devices to a drab brown colour, with no images, limited branding, and no cosmetic lights.
- Introduction of a Vaping Products Duty from October 1, 2026.
- Future bans on vending machine sales and free distribution of vapes from October 29, 2026.
- End to advertising and sponsorship of vapes from June 1, 2027.
The consultation aims to strike a balance between protecting children and allowing vapes to help adult smokers quit. The government urges all stakeholders to have their say.
