Children “will still have access to vapes” regardless of a ban coming into force tomorrow, according to a leading doctor.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly today announced that a ban on the sale of nicotine-inhaling products to under-18s will come into effect tomorrow.

Fines of up to €4,000 and a six-month term of imprisonment could be handed down to those found guilty of the offence.

More needed

Consultant Medical Oncologist at St Vincent’s Hospital, John Crown, told Newstalk Breakfast this morning that more needed to be done.

“It’s a step in the right direction, a relatively small step, but a step in the right direction,” he said,

“The products themselves are intrinsically dangerous but they are nowhere near as dangerous as inhaled and burnt tobacco.

“More alarmingly, they provide a gateway for young people to become addicted to nicotine by stealthy without thinking they are becoming smokers.”

Access

Dr Crown said children will still have access to the banned products.

“The evidence is clear that the great majority of smokers start under the age of 18,” he said.

“It is good that we are banning the sale of these to under-18s but they will still have access to them in the same way they do with cigarettes.”

Single-use disposable vapes lying discarded on the road. Credit: Richard Newton / Alamy Stock Photo

Dr Crown said vapes should be sold from pharmacies.

“I think the next logical step is to look at having a sort of prescription-only model as we do need to have some sort of mechanism to get people off burnt tobacco products.

“That is the only reason to do it, [vaping] should not be something you pick up casually as a free-standing habit because it’s incredibly dangerous to become a smoker.”

More laws

Health Minister Stephen Donnell said more laws around smoking and vaping will be enacted in the new year.

“In 2024 I will commence the remaining measures in the Act, such as around advertising, licensing systems, and vending machines," he said.

“We will examine the results of our public consultation on the further regulation of e-cigarettes and on some innovative proposals in tobacco control."

No advertising of vaping products around schools is another addition to the new laws coming into effect tomorrow.

Main Image: Group of vapes. Credit: peter dazeley / Alamy Stock Photo