A landmark moment for lung health – the Tobacco and Vapes Bill becomes law

What is the Tobacco and Vapes Bill?

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, now known as the Tobacco and Vapes Act, is groundbreaking legislation that will help to create a smoke-free generation.

It will:

• Make it illegal to sell tobacco products to children born on or after 1 January 2009. This means the minimum age to buy tobacco will increase by one year, every year, until no one can legally buy these products.
• Restrict how vapes and other consumer nicotine products (such as nicotine pouches) are branded and advertised. This will help make  these products less appealing to children and young people.
• Place stricter rules on where people can smoke and vape in public. This will help people whose lung conditions are affected  by other people smoking and vaping near them.
• Create a licensing scheme for retailers that sell tobacco, vapes and other nicotine products. This will make sure that retailers are following the new rules and help the government enforce them.

The new law applies to the whole of the UK.

Why is this new law so important?

Smoking is a leading cause of many lung conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and lung cancer. It also puts people at higher risk of  developing respiratory infections such as flu, pneumonia and COVID-19, and at increased risk of more severe symptoms from viral infections.

What will the government do next?

There’s still work to be done now the bill has become law. The Bill gives the government new powers to make regulations on tobacco and vapes, and they’re currently consulting on the creation of new smoke-free, heated tobacco-free and vape-free places in England.

The consultation focuses on government proposals to:

• Extend smoke-free laws to certain outdoor public places, including children’s playgrounds and outside a number of health and social care and education settings.
• Include vapes and heated tobacco in these new laws.

People with lung conditions tell us that second-hand smoke and vape vapours can worsen their symptoms, and trigger flare-ups and asthma attacks. Reducing the number of public spaces where people can smoke and vape should mean fewer people are exposed to these triggers. The current consultation applies to England only, but the governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales will run separate consultations.

We're celebrating this win - but there's still more to do

Asthma + Lung UK will be responding to this consultation, encouraging the government to create as many spaces as possible that are free from smoking, heated tobacco and vaping.

We’ll also be lobbying the government to put more funding into stop smoking services, to give people who already smoke the support they need to quit.

But in the meantime, we’re celebrating the incredible milestone that is the passage of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. This really is a meaningful step forward, and offers hope for healthier generations in the future.