Call to Ban Sale of Disposable E-Cigarettes in UK

According to The Star, the Liberal Democrats in Sheffield, United Kingdom, are calling for a ban on the sale of disposable e-cigarettes in the country. They have submitted a motion during this week's city council meeting, urging Mayor Tom Hunt to write a letter to the Department of Health requesting the prohibition of disposable e-cigarette sales.

The Liberal Democratic Party has stated that disposable e-cigarettes pose a risk to waste and garbage collection, and may result in garbage trucks catching fire. Approximately 1.3 million e-cigarettes are discarded every week.

According to data from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), 8.6% of young people aged 11-18 in the UK were found to use e-cigarettes in 2022, compared to 4% in 2021. Furthermore, reports indicate that among those who tried e-cigarettes, 40.1% had never smoked before.

Sheffield Liberal Democrat leader, MP Shafqat Mohammed, has told Local Democracy Reporting Service, "We are now seeing a lot of disposable e-cigarettes in various places throughout the city, such as shopping centers and near schools. We are not advocating for a ban on e-cigarettes themselves, but rather, we would like to see a nationwide effort to eliminate disposable e-cigarettes, not just in Sheffield.

Sheffield's Director of Public Health, Greg Fell, informed the local democratic reporting service that a government ban on disposable e-cigarettes may not "wipe it out" but instead create an illegal and illicit market.