A complete ban on all e-cigarette flavours and disposable vapes is urgently required to prevent a new generation of youngsters being lost to the dangers of smoking.

The new ban on the sale of vaping products to under 18s was approved by Cabinet today and is expected to become law in July and will curb the advertising of e-cigarettes around schools, and ban their sale from vending machines. But stronger legislation is still required.

Chris Macey, Director of Advocacy and Patient Support with the Irish Heart Foundation said:

“We need:

• a full ban on all e-cigarettes flavours, except tobacco,
• a complete prohibition of all forms of advertising, including online influencers promoting vaping products,
• a disposable vapes ban,
• the introduction of plain packaging for vaping, and
• the increase of the legal age of all tobacco and e-cigarette products from 18 to 21.

“Irish research shows that teenagers who use e-cigarettes are up to five times more likely to start smoking compared to those who don’t.”

Mr Macey also said the ban on selling vaping products to teenagers was the perfect opportunity to begin a national conversation on an eventual “endgame” for tobacco in Ireland.

“Ireland can reclaim its global leadership role in tobacco and nicotine policy by undertaking a dual strategy of implementing stronger regulatory policies on e-cigarettes to protect young people and commencing a broad consultation on New Zealand-style tobacco endgame measures,” Mr Macey said.

“It is beyond time that we regain our ambition for bold, innovative actions.

“If we don’t, we risk losing an entirely new generation of young people to the addictive nature of nicotine and the extremely harmful nature of smoking.

“Despite all the strong rhetoric coming from the government in committing to action on vaping, we have become increasingly complacent over the past several years,” Mr Macey continued.

“For the first time in a generation, teenage smoking rates are on the rise, a rise almost certainly fuelled by the gateway effect of vaping.

“But Ireland is behind its European neighbours in our efforts to protect children from vaping – and we are one of the last countries in the European Union to introduce a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes to under 18s.”