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Disposable vapes to be banned in England and Wales

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101–110 of 168 posts

Re: Disposable vapes to be banned in England and Wales

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would probably cost more to recycle them; they are not like aluminum cans or glass bottles that can be easily recycled into raw materials.

I don't think that prevents a programme to encourage responsible disposal. A $5 deposit on these vapes would get people to return them, and they could be recycled en masse even if it does cost more.

I like the idea of a deposit but you still need someone to accept the waste - point of a deposit is you get it back, so how do you fund the responsible disposal?

Re: Disposable vapes to be banned in England and Wales

#102
post #3

I’m a UK vaper (former smoker) and while I’m sure I’m going to find this annoying (disposables are helpful in a pinch when your proper vape has run out of battery or liquid), it’s clearly the right thing to do. The e-waste involved in that sub-industry must be absolutely horrifying. Tens of millions of tiny little batteries, surrounded in plastic, lingering quantities of nicotine-rich liquids… Glad this is happening.…

I'm not sure how it is in the UK, but in the USA it's also next to impossible to find a disposable vape that doesn't have an insanely high amount of nicotine. If anyone is unfortunate enough to try a disposable as their introduction to nicotine, they'll be as hooked as a pack a day smoker in no time. I switched to vaping after the pandemic and saw in realtime vapes come out with higher and higher nicotine levels, rep…

I was an occasional nicotine vaper, usually when taking a T break. The flavor was alright, and I couldn't feel much if anything from the hits in the 3-5% concentration range for e-juice. I never had problems just putting the device away for weeks at a time while enjoying other vices. I picked up some disposables while traveling and the experience was completely different. The flavor profile was much more rich. Things actually tasted fruity. More like a juice than the hint of a flavor I was used to from the freebase liquids I had tried. It hits far smoother. In addition I got a buzz from nicotine in a way I had never experienced before. I was literally high off my first few strong puffs. I don't get high anymore. But I also can't put it away anymore. After a day without, I'm almost constantly thinking about it. Freebase liquids do absolutely nothing to help divert my attention. Supposedly the nicotine salt vape is also only 5%. But holy shit does it feel different.

Re: Disposable vapes to be banned in England and Wales

#103

That's simply amazing: we fight with disposable plastic straws but we had no problem with single use electronics and battery. Insane.

Clearly we did have a problem.

"We" does the heavy lifting.

Profiteers had no problem. Vapers had no problem. The government had a problem.

This shows democracy actually working IMO. You elect people you trust and then they do the right thing despite individual people not doing that collectively.

Re: Disposable vapes to be banned in England and Wales

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched to vapes for a while and genuinely my lung health was worse than smoking. In the end it was Allen Carr’s book that got me off them, and it was surprisingly easy. The author died in 2006 so I wouldn’t even feel too bad about pirating it, I’m quite sure he wouldn’t mind.

My pet theory is that nicotine itself isn't particularly addictive to adults. I think the combination of additives in cigs is what makes them so hard to quit. I have quit various forms of pure nicotine with no withdrawals over the years, and treat it a bit like caffeine -- a stimulant that I use for a few months at a time before cycling off. The only time I've _ever_ desperately craved a nicotine product was after 2-…

That’s a pretty well established theory: MAO inhibiters in cigarettes (or produced as a metabolic byproduct of smoking or combustion) cause the nicotine to be more addictive [1].

[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9424897/

Re: Disposable vapes to be banned in England and Wales

#105
post #34

I've never vaped (/smoked/done drugs/etc I'm v boring) but can someone ELI5 why disposable vapes have been the preference? Don't you just buy the capsules and put them into your regarchable vape? Or if you want to get exotic e liquid. I would assume that's much cheaper than buying a whole device each time much must cost more $$/££.

It's because they are inexpensive, require zero maintenance, zero mess, zero additional equipment needed to maintain and use it. You don't have to understand anything about how it works or is put together. You get to have new colors and styles frequently, you naturally keep up with the trends. If you lose it or break it, it doesn't matter. There's no compatibility between the cartridge and the vape to think about.

Basically, because they are as easy as possible and stay trendy by their revolving door nature.

Re: Disposable vapes to be banned in England and Wales

#107
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would an additional tax address this? Paying more would hardly reduce usage, and definitely won't incentivize users to dispose of vape pens more responsibly.

I can imagine a tax so high that it's effectively a ban, and a tax half that size that might be a compromise between black and white ban/no ban

The UK taxed tobacco to high heaven and I don't think it did much to actually curb use. It's subject to the usual 20% VAT, plus an extra 16.5%, plus a flat £6.33 on 20 packs, so well over half of the sale price of tobacco is just tax.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-shopping/alcohol-tobacco

Re: Disposable vapes to be banned in England and Wales

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that prevents a programme to encourage responsible disposal. A $5 deposit on these vapes would get people to return them, and they could be recycled en masse even if it does cost more.

I like the idea of a deposit but you still need someone to accept the waste - point of a deposit is you get it back, so how do you fund the responsible disposal?

If I were, say, a US state government, I'd fund the recycling just to keep them from polluting. I don't think it's a case of trying to break even, just to reduce the harm done by throwaway electronics/batteries.

Re: Disposable vapes to be banned in England and Wales

#109
post #71

That's simply amazing: we fight with disposable plastic straws but we had no problem with single use electronics and battery. Insane.

What are straws for anyway?

Kids love em. Although I am impartial to a straw into a cold milkshake or mango smoothie on a hot day.

Re: Disposable vapes to be banned in England and Wales

#110
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would an additional tax address this? Paying more would hardly reduce usage, and definitely won't incentivize users to dispose of vape pens more responsibly.

I can imagine a tax so high that it's effectively a ban, and a tax half that size that might be a compromise between black and white ban/no ban

I would rather the government outright bans things rather than pseudo-banning them via the back door via taxes. At least then they have to expend an appropriate amount of political capital, and there is a proper amount of debate over it.

We had in the UK the sugar tax which was an effective ban on added sugar in soft drinks - you can hardly buy any drink without artificial sweeteners now, all of the old formulations were taken off the market because they were uneconomical. However, it never prior received attention as a ban, it was always described as just a "tax".

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