Total ban on vapes for children comes into affect

The new guidance includes products which weren’t already included in previous bans.

A total ban on nicotine and vapes sales to children has now come into effect.

The government announced that nicotine pouches, strips, pearls and vapes - including nicotine-free vapes - will be completely banned for children under 18.

Previously, only nicotine vapes were illegal to sell to young people.

The new guidance brings in products which were not already included in age-of-sales rules, and are part of the government’s wider plans for a ‘smoke free generation’.

More than a million children are estimated to have tried vaping, with more than 370,000 vaping regularly.

Young people in Lancashire are more likely to vape than the North West average, according to figures from Lancashire County Council, with 46 per cent of young people claiming to vape regularly (compared to 41 per cent in the North West overall).

Meanwhile, Preston alone is said to have had one of the biggest surges in vape shops over the past decade - jumping by a whopping 11 times.

For the first time, it will also be an offence for adults to attempt to buy a vape or nicotine product on behalf of someone under 18.

The new measures also ban vending machines which sell vapes and nicotine products, and also make it a crime for sellers to impose substantial discounts or promotions on these products.

“Addicting children to nicotine or encouraging them to vape could lead to the risk of serious health harms - it is completely unacceptable, said Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty.

“These measures will help protect children from marketing of nicotine products and attempts to encourage them to vape.”