Rishi Sunak has been urged to rethink his policy on banning disposable vapes with critics saying the same policy has been “ineffective” in Australia, reports the Express.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been warned “prohibition has never worked” and to “learn from the Australian Government’s mistakes” with regard to his planned disposable vape ban, reports the Express.
A recent study in Australia showed that, despite an import ban on disposable vapes, one in eight 12 to 15-year-olds and one in five 16 to 17-year-olds had vaped in the last month and that 90 per cent of vapes in Australia come from the illicit market.
“Australia’s ban looks good on paper but you only have to take a walk down any shopping strip, past a bus stop or the local pub and you’ll see a bunch of people sucking on illegal disposable vapes that they’ve clearly bought from the black market,” said Theo Foukkare, CEO of the Australian Association of Convenience Stores,
“A disposable ban, or any other ban, will only result in pushing up costs, people will end up buying unregulated and poorly manufactured cheap vapes on the black market. The black market in Australia will continue to boom unless the Australian Government moves to regulate the sale of strictly manufactured-to-code vapes to people aged 18 and over, just like they do with alcohol and tobacco,” he added.
According to the Express, Foukkare has now urged Sunak to reconsider his ban and to learn from the mistakes made by the Australian government.