Key Takeaways
- Plans to create a smoke-free generation have received backing from both Houses of Parliament.
- Peers approved the Tobacco and Vapes Bill at its third reading on Monday, aiming to stop anyone currently aged 17 or younger from ever buying cigarettes.
- Shopkeepers would be prohibited from selling tobacco, herbal smoking products, or cigarette papers to people born on or after January 1, 2009.
- Adults who buy vaping or nicotine products on behalf of children would face fines.
- The bill requires further parliamentary agreement before it can become law.
2Firsts,March 11,2026
According to the original report, plans to create an entirely smoke-free generation have received backing from both Houses of Parliament.
Peers on Monday approved the Tobacco and Vapes Bill at its third reading, aiming to prevent anyone currently aged 17 or younger from ever buying cigarettes.
Under the proposed law, shopkeepers will be prohibited from selling tobacco, herbal smoking products, or cigarette papers to individuals born on or after January 1, 2009. Adults attempting to purchase vaping or nicotine products for children will also face fines.
Ministers are set to gain new powers to control the flavours and substances in smoking products, including vapes, alongside regulating their packaging’s appearance, size, texture, and shape.
The bill requires further parliamentary agreement before it can become law.
Health minister Baroness Merron told the Lords that smoking is “the number-one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health,” and that tobacco claims around 80,000 lives every year. She said that while tobacco remains the greatest threat, the legislation is about protecting future generations not only from the harms of tobacco but from nicotine addiction.
Conservative shadow health minister Lord Kamall warned that ministers were set to gain “a considerable degree of delegated power” to decide rules governing flavouring, advertising restrictions, and the creation of vape-free places.
He said regulations should be grounded in evidence. He said regulations must not impose unnecessary burdens on retailers, especially corner shops and other small retailers, and must not impose burdens on the hospitality sector. He also said regulations must recognise concerns of former smokers who rely on particular vape products and descriptors as part of their pathway from smoking and should not ban products that might make smoking cessation more difficult.
Lord Kamall said he particularly welcomed the commitment to a review of the act after a reasonable period of years, and that the review would matter.
He also said that a permanent and ever-widened prohibition on tobacco sales to an increasing share of the adult population may drive some people to buy from the black market.
Image source: Independent
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