Banning vapes would be "insane" says Vape Club boss Dan Marchant

The CEO of a UK vape retailer has hit back at government proposals to ban the sale of vapes - labelling it as "insane".

Today, the government launched a consultation for groups, charities and businesses about the future of vaping in the UK, in a bid to clamp down on youth vaping. Suggestions range from stricter packaging and advertising regulations to an outright ban on the sale of disposable vapes. Health Secretary Steve Barclay said all proposals were designed to "reduce the appeal and availability" of vapes.

Now, the chief executive and founder of Vape Club - the UK's largest vaping retailer - has hit back at the government's proposals.

CEO Dan Marchant said: "It is an absolutely insane idea to ban disposable vapes, and the consequences will be far worse than any current issues we face with the products. However, it is possible to deal with these issues without a ban.

"Disposable vapes have been shown to be one of the single most effective methods for smokers to switch to vaping. The recent Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) statistics for adult vaping in the UK show us there are 4.7m adult vapers, of which 31 per cent report using disposable vapes - that works out to almost 1.5m adults.

"The current regulations are not perfect. But they aren’t that bad - the issue is that there is an almost complete lack of enforcement. We understand trading standards are severely underfunded, and unfortunately, the £30m that Rishi announced for an enforcement fund but why should it come out of taxpayers' money?

"It shouldn’t, the responsibility needs to be born by the retailers, manufacturers and distributors - the people profiting from the sale of the products. It is pointless creating a raft of new regulations if the ones in place are not being enforced. And there is only one way to ensure effective enforcement - licensing and much higher penalties."

Mr Marchant added that a "black market" for stronger vapes already exists, and fear that clamping down on regulations will only put more power into illegal traders.

"With so many adults relying on disposable vapes to stay away from cigarettes any kind of ban is just going to result in a boom for the illegal traders," he said.

Figures show that disposable vapes are the e-cigarette of choice among youngsters, while purchases of vapes are mostly made from corner shops.

The government's consultation over the future of UK vaping is expected to run for eight weeks.