Highlights
- One in four disposable vape users have returned to smoking or turned to illicit products since the UK ban.
- More than half of adults (51%) wrongly believe vaping is as harmful as smoking.
- UKVIA calls for licensing and tougher penalties instead of blanket bans to cut smoking rates.
A quarter of disposable vape users have returned to smoking or turned to the illicit market following the UK’s ban on single-use vapes, according to new research.
The survey of 6,000 vapers and smokers, commissioned by ELFBAR, found that 26 per cent of former single-use vape users had either resumed smoking, increased their tobacco use, or switched to illegal vaping products in the two months since the ban was introduced.
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) said the findings confirmed its long-held concerns that blanket bans are counterproductive, undermining efforts to achieve a smoke-free UK.
The research also revealed that public misperceptions about the relative risks of vaping remain high, with 51 per cent of adults wrongly believing vaping is as harmful as or more harmful than smoking. Awareness of illicit vape sales is also growing, with 22 per cent of respondents reporting they had seen such products in their area, up from 19 per cent in December 2024.
“It never made any sense to us to ban this entire category and now we have concrete evidence that more than a quarter of vapers have either resumed smoking, increased tobacco use or purchased illicit products since the ban,” John Dunne, UKVIA director general, said.
“Any one of those outcomes would be bad enough but all three combined should be deeply worrying and urgent action must be taken to reverse this trend. If these are the numbers we are seeing after two months then I dread to think where we will be in a year’s time.”
The UKVIA is calling for a national public health campaign to correct misperceptions about vaping, a licensing scheme for vape retailers similar to alcohol licensing, stronger enforcement against illicit sellers, and £10,000 fines plus license removal for those who sell to minors.
Dunne added: “Instead of imposing blanket bans which makes it harder for the legitimate, law-abiding vape industry to help smokers quit, let’s focus on those who sell to children and are prepared to flood the market with illegal or illicit products.
“It is only by making the consequences of flouting the law so prohibitive that it is not worth taking the risk and by educating smokers that vaping is a far better option for consuming nicotine that we can drive down smoking rates once and for all.”