Southend High Street vape shops fears over disposables ban

New legislation to ban the sale of single-use vapes from June 1 next year has been laid out in Parliament, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed on Wednesday.

The ban has left the future of some Southend High Street shops which rely on disposable vape sales in doubt, according to Jamal Ahmed, owner of Gorilla Vapes, who said such a ban could see vape shops like his shut down.

He said: “We only sell vapes, we don’t sell anything else. If it goes through, then we would have to shut the shop.

“If the law will change, all our investment and business will be gone.”

Muhammad Ahsan, manager at Mobile XPertz, also claimed sales of the products have dropped since talk began of a potential ban.

He said: “It’s already bad, since it was announced. People are now moving towards nicotine pouches instead.

“Government could put in restrictions instead. I think vapes have helped a lot of people to quit smoking.

“They could restrict the brand, limit the number of disposable vapes available instead.

“It helped me to quit smoking. I had been smoking for the last 15 years.”

However, Southend resident Michael Wheeler believes the ban makes sense due to the amount of waste disposable vapes cause.

The 37-year-old said: “It’s long overdue. Plastic straws have been outlawed – they created plastic waste. Disposable vapes are creating a lot of plastic waste, so it makes sense to me.

“I see them being littered all the time.”

Ola Sol, 30, who lives in Southend agreed the single-use vapes should be regulated as he often sees children with them, and noticed them littered on the street.

“I think I agree with government that it’s an issue. I see little kids with them, a lot of them have access to it,” he said.

“I think it’s good they are taking action to lessen the use of it. I use them every now and then, and I agree with the fact it needs to be regulated.”

Businesses will have until June 1 to sell any remaining stock and prepare for the ban.