Disposable vapes divide opinion among users and campaigners.
Bad for the environment and, for some, bad for health.
The First Minister is planning a serious crackdown on single-use disposable vapes, plus a consultation on an “outright ban”.
This has been prompted by months of campaigning by Dundee student Laura Young. Single-use vapes are seen as an environmental menace, with as many as one million of them thrown away every week.
But not everyone is happy with the news.
‘Disposable vapes helped me quit smoking’
Amy McKechnie, 30, smoked for 11 years before she quit – thanks, she says, to disposable vapes.
“Disposable vapes have really helped me,” she explained.
“I don’t seem to have any side effects. If anything, I’m feeling better. I’ve noticed that I don’t cough as much anymore, I’m not as breathless as I used to be.”
Amy began smoking cigarettes when she was 19, and felt that she was addicted to them.
When she quit, she went straight onto using disposable vapes.
Previously, Amy smoked around six (cigarettes) a day. Now, she is down to two or three vapes a week.
“A week later, I was feeling better,” she said. “I had more energy, I was less tired.
“And I wasn’t having those cravings anymore.”
Amy said she doesn’t feel addicted to vapes, the way she did with smoking.
“I wouldn’t say that I crave the vapes in the same way, it’s more of a habit. But I feel like I could stop.”
When she learned that the Scottish Government are looking to consult on an “outright ban” on disposable vapes, Amy said she felt “annoyed”.
“I feel like it should be up to individual people’s decisions,” Amy said.
“If it has helped me stop smoking, then why ban something that is a bit healthier for people?
“I feel like it’s very unfair.”
Scottish disposable vape ban would be ‘unfair’ for ex-smokers
Vaping is recommended by the NHS as a smoking cessation tool.
If disposable vapes are banned, Amy said that would become an issue for ex-smokers.
She continued: “They’re promoting stopping smoking, and they brought vapes out pretty much for that reason.
“Then if they just decide to take them away, a lot of people will take up smoking again.
“People need to think about the ones that are struggling to stop smoking at the moment, and the benefits from vaping.
“It is taking people’s choice away from them.”
Amy said a ban isn’t the solution when it comes to growing concerns about kids using disposable vapes either.
She said: “It’s down to parents, schools and shops to make sure they’re not mis-selling vapes to kids that are underage, the same as cigarettes.”
Disposable vape ban is ‘100% the right thing’
On the other side of the vaping divide is Imaan Hussain.
There is no question in this 17-year-old’s mind that the Scottish Government should slap a ban on disposable vapes.
Imaan, who is studying Medicine at the University of St Andrews, is delighted with Humza Yousaf’s pledge to rid the streets of this plastic menace.
She wants to see a ban on single-use vapes after witnessing younger pupils in her former school, Morgan Academy, become addicted to the smoking devices.
It is illegal to sell vapes, disposable or otherwise, to young people under 18 years of age. But kids are still able to get their hands on them.
“100%, a ban on them the right thing,” she said.
“In the last year, it’s become horrendous.
“What really, really concerns me is that it’s primarily the younger kids that are doing it.”
“Vapes are very social, I’ve noticed,” Imaan added.
“It’s like: let’s everyone sit down, have a chat, have a vape.
“Let’s go to the shops, buy crisps, a drink and a vape.
“It’s very casual and vapes are very integrated in young people’s lives.”
73% of young people want disposable vapes banned
Imaan says she has “definitely” been pressured by other teens to try vaping. They are present and unavoidable in many social situations for teens, according to the student.
She said: “There have been so many times when I’ve been in a group and there have been vapes there and people have offered me them.”
“Even young people who use vapes want to see them banned,” Imaan continued.
“But they are just stuck with it. They say: ‘we do it because nobody tells us not to, no one is banning it.’
“I think addiction to vapes is something that’s really prominent in young people, especially in Dundee.
“And that made me realise this is a big problem and it needs to be dealt with, aggressively.”
If you need advice to quit smoking, you can visit Quit Your Way or speak to your GP or pharmacist.
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