Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid a visit to a school in Darlington this week, on a personal investigation around the use of disposable vapes.

His prerogative for this visit was to gauge the opinions of parents and teachers on the growing vape addiction across the country. He has proposed a plan to ban disposable vapes which would include; restricting the flavours and packaging, restricting the ways they are displayed in shops, and outlawing the sale of vapes to anyone born after 1st January 2009. 

Many adults and healthcare professionals support this view, suggesting that since the long-term impacts are not yet known, there is a danger to using them - though not all feel the same. 

Importantly, there is an argument to be made that the banning of vapes may only precipitate the illegal market further, causing more harm to children and young people who cannot access safe alternatives. 

MP’s such as Liz Truss would argue that the measures are too restrictive, even calling the move ‘unconservative’. It would seem that the use of disposable vapes will not diminish, regardless of the moves made by Parliament. 

Certainly more research is needed to find the best way to handle the situation, and the crux of the argument seems to be whether the government should be intervening directly, or researching behind the scenes to discover whether such steadfast policies are really necessary.