Single-use vapes to be banned as new tobacco purchase age limit enforced

Single use vapes will be banned and the tobacco purchase age raised under new plans.

Those born on or after 1 January 2009 will be unable to legally buy tobacco in Scotland.

Ministers have agreed to take forward the recommendations of a report following a four-nations consultation into the matter.

It also recommends steps to restrict vape flavours, the display and packaging of the devices, and some steps already underway in Scotland, such as powers for councils to issue fixed penalty notices for breaches of age of sale legislation.

Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: "Smoking damages lives and kills more than 8,000 people a year in Scotland and is burden on our NHS and social care services. Research also suggests that almost one in five adolescents have tried vapes.

"We want to do more to achieve our goal of being tobacco-free in Scotland by 2034 and after collaborating on the UK-wide consultation, we have worked closely across the four UK nations on next steps and now intend to act on taking forward its recommendations, either on a UK-wide basis or through legislation in the Scottish Parliament."

In Scotland, 82.3% of responses to the consultation were in support of restrictions on single-use vapes, which is higher than the UK-wide level of 79.3%. As many as 73.4% of Scottish responses favoured an outright ban, compared with 68.1% for the UK as a whole.

The majority of the measures will be taken forward via UK-wide legislation requiring a Legislative Consent Motion (LCM), apart from the disposables ban, which will be through legislation in the Scottish Parliament.

The ban on single-use vapes will be taken forward using powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which are devolved to Scottish ministers.

The Scottish Government has said it will continue to work with the UK Government and other nations in relation to the ban on disposable vapes, including addressing the need for any exclusion from the UK Internal Market Act through the Resources and Waste Common Framework.