Banning disposable vapes is needed on heath and environmental grounds, says Cork TD

A Cork TD has said a ban on the sale of disposable vapes is needed “both on health and environmental grounds”.

Fine Gael spokesperson for health Colm Burke said that while vaping was initially introduced as a means to wean smokers off cigarettes, the alarming surge in the use of disposable vapes by under 18s is “hugely concerning”.

“Instead of acting as a means of assisting adults with nicotine addiction, they are acting as a pathway to tobacco use,” said Mr Burke.

“Although sale to anyone under 18 is now illegal, the products clearly appear to be marketed to children, with bright packaging and synthetic flavours such as strawberry watermelon and cotton candy. While we know how the nicotine in a generic vape behaves in the body, we have no understanding of the chemical makeup of the exotic flavours used by vapes, and their long-term effect on users and bystanders.”

There has been significant progress made in relation to the issue of vaping in Ireland, with the sale of e-cigarettes to persons under 18 now being prohibited. A penalty of up to €4,000 and up to a six-month term of imprisonment for breaches of this law have also been introduced.

Estimates suggest that more than 10m disposable vapes may be used in Ireland every year.

“The bottom line is that the vapes were originally introduced to assist smokers to cut down or cease their tobacco use,” said Mr Burke.

“We clearly do not require 16,000 different disposable vape products to do that. In fact, we do not need disposable vapes at all. We should be front and centre of the move to ban disposable vapes for the sake of society and in particular its youngest citizens.”