‘Monster vape’ kits with puff-power of 8,000 cigarettes should be banned, MP calls
‘Monster vape’ kits that have the puff-power of over 8,000 cigarettes must be outlawed in the UK, a senior MP has warned, amid an increase in popularity after the single-use vape ban
The MP warned a legal loophole allowing more powerful vapes needed to be closed(Image: SWNS)
“Monster vape” kits that have the puff-power of over 8,000 cigarettes must be outlawed in the UK, a senior MP has warned.
Dr Beccy Cooper, a Labour MP and public health doctor, is calling for the Tobacco & Vapes Bill to close legal loopholes being exploited to sell 100,000-puff vape packages on the UK market.
The kits are becoming increasingly popular following the Government’s decision to ban disposable vapes in June last year.
Dr Cooper – MP for Worthing West – told The Mirror: “So-called ‘monster vapes’ undermine the spirit of the ban on disposable vapes and existing limits on tank size. Devices marketed as delivering tens of thousands of puffs raise serious public health concerns and should not be available on the UK market.”
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She added: “We need to be clear that exploiting regulatory loopholes is not acceptable. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill must be used to close these gaps. Vapes can play a role in helping adults to quit smoking, but ultra-high-puff products undermine our efforts to make Britain genuinely smoke-free.”
Under UK rules the maximum amount of nicotine e-liquid an individual vape tank can hold is 2ml. But campaigners warn some manufacturers appear to be exploiting current regulations by producing devices that have multiple 2ml tanks within a single vape that users can switch between.
Before the disposable vape ban, studies already showed mega-puff devices were making up to a quarter of the market, with three million sales per week. And there was a 17% rise in value sales of vaping devices that claim to offer the user more than 600 puffs between June and October last year, Better Retailing website reported last week.
Material Focus, which advocates for circular economies, has long warned that “big puff” vapes are cheaper per inhalation than disposable devices. At the time of the single-use vape ban, the not-for-profit group warned of a “vapocalypse” remaining due to the models and their environmental harms.
The 100,000-puff vape kits – which include flavours such as watermelon ice, fizzy cherry cola and strawberry ice – comply with regulations by meeting reusable criteria. To compare, there are approximately 10 to 15 puffs in a single combustible cigarette.
Campaigners have long warned the cheap devices disincentivise users from reusing them, with people often opting to buy fresh ones. It defeats the purpose of the disposable vape ban, which was brought in to stop the littering of toxic batteries and stop critical minerals from going to waste.
Vaping products have been promoted in recent years as a useful way for people to quit smoking Early research shows using E-cigarettes is much less harmful than smoking but the long-term effects are still unknown. Health experts have encouraged non-smokers and children never to vape.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which is currently progressing through the House of Lords, will ban those born on or after 1 January, 2009 from ever buying cigarettes.
