Written question WQ94724

Health advice on vapes is clear - if you do not smoke, do not vape, and children and young people should never vape. However, the number of children and young people using vapes has increased significantly in recent years and we know these products are being targeted at children through their flavours and packaging.

All four UK governments are committed to addressing smoking and youth vaping. My Officials have collaborated closely with those in the other UK nations to develop the Tobacco and Vapes Bill 2024 which aims to create a smoke-free generation and tackle youth vaping by introducing new measures to restrict flavours, point of sale displays, and packaging of vapes, making vapes and other nicotine products less appealing and available to children. Additionally, it includes provisions to prevent these products from being intentionally branded and advertised to children. The Bill will also prohibit vape vending machines and the free distribution of vapes, and it will make it illegal to sell any nicotine products, both nicotine and non-nicotine vapes, to under 18s.

Single-use vapes are a wasteful use of resources, create litter and plastic pollution in our environment and are linked to youth vaping. To help address this, the Welsh Government will, from the 1 June 2025, ban the supply of single-use vapes in Wales. This ban is being taken forward separately to the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and will be co-ordinated with the other nations in the UK to support consumers, businesses and enforcement understand the new laws.

I agree with Public Health Wales' (PHW) Incident Response Group (IRG) recommendation to treat vaping as a dependency issue and prioritise support over punishment for young people. At present, individuals aged 12 years and older who smoke or vape can receive the same support as adult smokers through Help Me Quit (HMQ), which includes comprehensive behavioural assistance and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), customised to their individual requirements. Those over 12 who exclusively vape can access one session of behavioural support from HMQ but without NRT. While free NRT access for those who only vape is not currently available through HMQ, Officials are working with PHW and Community Pharmacy teams to create pathways for future regular provision.

PHW has observed increased demand for its HMQ service from those addicted to nicotine through vaping and has formed a project board with experts from education, smoking cessation, and the third sector in Wales to review and enhance support services.