Tobacco and Vapes Bill new law passed_UK

[SD2026]

So the UK Parliament has now passed a landmark law (UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill) making it illegal for anyone born on or after 1st January 2009 to ever purchase tobacco products.  The aim being that children today will become the first smoke free generation and that I very much welcome!

 

It does make me wonder though how effective it will be.  I was 12 when I started and easily had access to cigarettes, mostly from older kids I hung out with and from a sweet shop (I kid you not) where the owner used to sell them in singles to us on the quiet for about 13p per cigarette, so dodgy!  They will find a way if they really want to but then again, times are different now and smoking is much more frowned upon than before. 

 

Maybe this new law will be the deterrent that is needed, making it more difficult for them to start and that can only be a good thing.  I guess time will tell. It does seem odd though that in the future, it'll be illegal for a 39 year old to purchase tobacco but not for a 40 year old.    

 

Anyway, at least something is being done to stop people getting addicted.  

[GonSo]

I think the last thing matters. 

[Reciprocity]

Certainly better than doing nothing, although there will be issues that will be difficult to control completely. In most places there is a black market of sorts for cigs and laws like this will push some to that market. In terms of kids starting smoking, it's my understanding that Vape is the go-to more so than cigs. There seems to be a belief that it's safer health wise and it's marketed in such a manner to attract the youger crowd and I think it will be challenging to have an effective ban on vaping products. Hopefully they'll work things out over time.

 

I expect many more countries will follow with similar legislation.

[SD2026]

10 hours ago, Reciprocity said:

Certainly better than doing nothing, although there will be issues that will be difficult to control completely. In most places there is a black market of sorts for cigs and laws like this will push some to that market. In terms of kids starting smoking, it's my understanding that Vape is the go-to more so than cigs. There seems to be a belief that it's safer health wise and it's marketed in such a manner to attract the youger crowd and I think it will be challenging to have an effective ban on vaping products. Hopefully they'll work things out over time.

 

I expect many more countries will follow with similar legislation.

Yeah it'll be difficult to manage overall and there's no stopping the black markets.  They will always be around.  There are many obstacles to overcome, some will fail but hopefully the message to kids will be to stay away from smoking. I know it's not as easy as that, wishful thinking!  Yes vapes are more popular now and deemed safer giving an illusion it's not too bad. It's all the same really.

[Doreensfree]

Anything to try and encourage young kids not to start smoking can only be a good 

step forward 

I was only 11 years old , and I found a way 

All the rules go out of the window when you want to do something your not allowed too .

We can only wait and hope

[QuittingGirl]

I think today there are many less smokers than years ago, plus the price for cigs are so high that if you are a pack a day smoker, that can add up to lots of money.  I was in a card store the other day buying birthday cards and behind the counter they have the cigarettes.  The price for a pack here in NYC is $18.50/pack, $185 for a carton! Totally insane, I don't know how anyone who isn't very weathy can afford it, if they smoke a lot.   I don't know how they can enforce that law in the UK for someone who is older.  Will they ask every person even senior citizens for ID?

 

I was driving with my mom the other day, we were going food shopping and usually when we go places together, I drive but going there she likes to listen to her 1940s music and coming back I listen to my more modern stuff.  Anyway, the 40s channel played a song called "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)".  That song wouldn't work today for sure. My mom turned 100 last week and "Knock Wood" she is doing very well for a person of her age and she still smokes!  The doctor told her not to give it up now because the withdrawal would be extremely difficult for her.  My husband and I made her a big party in a nice restaurant in a place on the Brooklyn waterfront under the Williamsburg Bridge overlooking the Manhattan skyline.  We all had an amazing time!  

[Reciprocity]

7 minutes ago, QuittingGirl said:

I think today there are many less smokers than years ago, plus the price for cigs are so high that if you are a pack a day smoker, that can add up to lots of money.  I was in a card store the other day buying birthday cards and behind the counter they have the cigarettes.  The price for a pack here in NYC is $18.50/pack, $185 for a carton! Totally insane, I don't know how anyone who isn't very weathy can afford it, if they smoke a lot.   I don't know how they can enforce that law in the UK for someone who is older.  Will they ask every person even senior citizens for ID?

 

I was driving with my mom the other day, we were going food shopping and usually when we go places together, I drive but going there she likes to listen to her 1940s music and coming back I listen to my more modern stuff.  Anyway, the 40s channel played a song called "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)".  That song wouldn't work today for sure. My mom turned 100 last week and "Knock Wood" she is doing very well for a person of her age and she still smokes!  The doctor told her not to give it up now because the withdrawal would be extremely difficult for her.  My husband and I made her a big party in a nice restaurant in a place on the Brooklyn waterfront under the Williamsburg Bridge overlooking the Manhattan skyline.  We all had an amazing time!  

Congrats on your Mum's Centennial Birthday!

She sure must have a rock solid constitution to be still going strong at 100 and still smoking. Not many can do that.

I've heard that song before myself and yeah, no way it would be a hit today 

[Cbdave]

Gday

New Zealand put the same type of ban in place but quick as a flash the next change of government overturned it. Sucks but that the way it goes.

In Australia the highly taxed cigs have breed a black market in cigs and vaps. But with all that illegal it also attracts the crime. Criminals being crimes have a habit of burning down each others shop fronts. Like when the bikies tried to take take over the tattoo industry and thier version of competition was to burn each other out. It became impossible to insure and the stores owners would not lease to a tattoo business.

Sames now happening to tabacco stores now. On another level state government is closing them down big fines and all the rest. But the big one is that the owner find the site can’t have a tabacco related business for 6 months. No one would be prepared to rent on those terms.

Who  knows where it lead. Have to buy your vapes on Temu? 

[SD2026]

9 hours ago, QuittingGirl said:

I think today there are many less smokers than years ago, plus the price for cigs are so high that if you are a pack a day smoker, that can add up to lots of money.  I was in a card store the other day buying birthday cards and behind the counter they have the cigarettes.  The price for a pack here in NYC is $18.50/pack, $185 for a carton! Totally insane, I don't know how anyone who isn't very weathy can afford it, if they smoke a lot.   I don't know how they can enforce that law in the UK for someone who is older.  Will they ask every person even senior citizens for ID?

 

I was driving with my mom the other day, we were going food shopping and usually when we go places together, I drive but going there she likes to listen to her 1940s music and coming back I listen to my more modern stuff.  Anyway, the 40s channel played a song called "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)".  That song wouldn't work today for sure. My mom turned 100 last week and "Knock Wood" she is doing very well for a person of her age and she still smokes!  The doctor told her not to give it up now because the withdrawal would be extremely difficult for her.  My husband and I made her a big party in a nice restaurant in a place on the Brooklyn waterfront under the Williamsburg Bridge overlooking the Manhattan skyline.  We all had an amazing time!  

Wow belated happy 100th birthday to your Mum!  That's amazing!   

 

I'm not sure how they're going to enforce the rule but with their talk of Digital ID I'm sure they'll find a way.  Avg price of a pack of cigarettes in the UK is about $22.20, goes up every year.  They're more targeting the Retailers and will fine them for the sale.  It's a difficult one, I just hope the message to the kids is that it's just not worth the risk! 

[SD2026]

6 hours ago, Cbdave said:

Gday

New Zealand put the same type of ban in place but quick as a flash the next change of government overturned it. Sucks but that the way it goes.

In Australia the highly taxed cigs have breed a black market in cigs and vaps. But with all that illegal it also attracts the crime. Criminals being crimes have a habit of burning down each others shop fronts. Like when the bikies tried to take take over the tattoo industry and thier version of competition was to burn each other out. It became impossible to insure and the stores owners would not lease to a tattoo business.

Sames now happening to tabacco stores now. On another level state government is closing them down big fines and all the rest. But the big one is that the owner find the site can’t have a tabacco related business for 6 months. No one would be prepared to rent on those terms.

Who  knows where it lead. Have to buy your vapes on Temu? 

It all seems pointless if the law can be overturned just like that.   Yes there will be a rise in black markets, that sounds grim what's happening in Australia. I don't think the UK has room for more criminal activities.    Initially I was thinking how great it would be to have a smoke free generation, now I'll remove my rose tinted glasses..

[Cbdave]

On 4/25/2026 at 5:04 PM, SD2026 said:

It all seems pointless if the law can be overturned just like that.   Yes there will be a rise in black markets, that sounds grim what's happening in Australia. I don't think the UK has room for more criminal activities.    Initially I was thinking how great it would be to have a smoke free generation, now I'll remove my rose tinted glasses..

Gday

No Not pointless. And you don’t have rose colour glasses. Have a get a pair of bifocals you can see up close and see off in the distance. Gives you a full view.

It doesn’t matter really if the law gets repealed in the end. It doesn’t take away from the fact that it was law. Having to say I can now smoke or vape cause a political party used it to get voted in.

Really. It’s pretty obvious a crook of Site. There’s not that many smoker vapers now. They are a minority at lest in this country. 
People don’t except smoking vaping anymore.

As for the black market it’s self correcting who wants to except firebombing etc. The 12per cent of nicotine addicts facing the rest of us. 
Anyway that’s my rave

 

[SD2026]

6 hours ago, Cbdave said:

It doesn’t matter really if the law gets repealed in the end. It doesn’t take away from the fact that it was law. Having to say I can now smoke or vape cause a political party used it to get voted in.

Corruption at its finest!  Thank you, your view sure feels better than my "it's pointless" view.  Now to source bifocals...

[Christian99]

I absolutely support the legislation and applaud the courage and principled positions that underwrite it.  100 million people died from cigarettes in the 20th Century, and I'm pretty convinced that centuries from now, people will view our implicit and explicit complicity with corporate tobacco as one of the most profound moral shames of the entire era.  There is simply no analogue to the level of lethality and addictiveness of the substance and the mendacity of industry, which is why comparisons to things like 1920's Prohibition are weak at best.  The industry has spent BILLIONS of dollars over the past 75 years normalizing and politicizing the notion that eliminating the product would be an assault on freedom, and they've been pretty darn effective; those dollars and the entities that accepted the cash and the absurd equation of smoking and freedom are really the only differences between corporate tobacco products and, say, Thalidamide or DDTs.  For those interested in a thoughtful, trenchantly argued, and deeply researched monograph on the subject, I recommend Robert Proctor's 2011 book, Golden Holocaust (U of CA P).    

 

Christian99 (a proud abolitionist)--

24+ Years Quit

[SD2026]

10 hours ago, Christian99 said:

The industry has spent BILLIONS of dollars over the past 75 years normalizing and politicizing the notion that eliminating the product would be an assault on freedom, and they've been pretty darn effective;

The "assault on freedom" route is what critics are fighting against here.  No one wants a nanny state of course but when it comes to health, it's an obvious choice. Thanks for your input and congrats on 24+ years smoke quit!   

[shy]

On 4/25/2026 at 3:04 AM, SD2026 said:

It all seems pointless if the law can be overturned just like that.   Yes there will be a rise in black markets, that sounds grim what's happening in Australia. I don't think the UK has room for more criminal activities.    Initially I was thinking how great it would be to have a smoke free generation, now I'll remove my rose tinted glasses..

@SD2026 Never remove your rose tinted glasses. As long as there is hope there is a chance.