What is now law
| Change | From | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Single-use vape ban | 1 Jun 2025 | Illegal to sell or supply a vape that cannot be both recharged and refilled, across all four UK nations. Introduced under environmental rules, separately from the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. Rechargeable pod and refillable devices remain legal. |
| Tobacco and Vapes Bill | Passed Apr 2026 | Creates powers over flavours, packaging, display and advertising. Aimed at youth uptake rather than at prohibiting adult vaping. |
| Vaping Products Duty | 1 Oct 2026 | £2.20 per 10 ml of e-liquid, regardless of nicotine content. |
| Age of sale | In force | 18 and over, including for nicotine-free products. |
| Indoor use | — | Smoke-free legislation covers combustible tobacco, not vaping. Indoor vaping is a matter of the property owner's policy. |
What the 2026 numbers show
From the ASH Smokefree GB Youth Survey of 11–17-year-olds in Great Britain:
- 19% have ever tried vaping — around 1.1 million. Broadly flat since 2023.
- 6% currently vape — around 370,000, with 2% (about 140,000) vaping daily.
- Disposable use collapsed among young people who vape: 69% in 2023, 42% in 2025, 13% in 2026. The ban clearly changed which products are used.
- Whether it changed how many vape is less clear. Current use has not fallen by anything like the same margin. The reading is substantial product switching, not yet a demonstrated fall in youth vaping.
- Ever-smoking rose then fell — 14% in 2023, 21% in 2025, 18% in 2026. About one in twenty currently smoke.
- Councils seized more than 1.3 million illegal vape products in 2025, so some demand moved to routes nobody inspects.
The finding that should change how this subject is written about
62% of young people now believe vaping is as harmful as smoking, or more harmful. That is not correct, and the misperception has a cost. A smoker who believes switching gains them nothing has no reason to switch.
This guide takes vaping harms seriously and says so throughout. It also tries not to add to that particular error, because the people it misleads most are exactly the people who would benefit most from accurate information. The comparison, handled properly →
What this means for the rest of the guide
The chapters in this guide were compiled from reports written in 2025 and describe the aerosol, the addiction mechanism and the health effects — none of which the ban changed. What the ban changed is the market: the cheap, sweet, high-nicotine disposable that drove youth uptake is no longer legally on sale, and the devices that replaced it are refillable pods with the same nicotine-salt chemistry.
So the pharmacology chapters stand. The passages describing disposables as the dominant youth product no longer describe Great Britain in 2026, and should be read as history.
Sources
- ASH — Use of vapes among young people in Great Britain 2026 Smokefree GB Youth Survey
- The Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) Regulations In force 1 June 2025 across all four nations