April 30, 2026 (New York)— After decades of steady progress, the United Kingdom (UK) has passed a landmark bill, the Tobacco and Vapes Act, designed to boost efforts to reduce tobacco use and related health, social and economic harm. Continuing the UK’s history of embracing innovative tobacco control policies to protect health, the Act makes it illegal for retailers to sell tobacco products to people born in and later than 2009, aimed at “breaking the cycle of addiction and disadvantage.” People born before 2009 will still be able to buy tobacco products such as cigarettes, heated tobacco products, shisha and rolling tobacco.
The Act also seeks to protect children and youth by making it illegal to sell electronic cigarettes, non-nicotine vapes and consumer (non-medicinal) nicotine products to people under 18 and more strictly regulating their advertising and promotion. Notably, the Act has enjoyed strong public and cross-party political support across the UK.
“We congratulate the UK government for approving such a groundbreaking, comprehensive bill that strengthens proven measures and applies innovative new approaches to foster a healthier, smokefree future for all. A generational ban on cigarettes could ultimately remove one of the most-preventable causes of death and disease in the UK. Importantly, the law addresses significant factors in the youth vaping epidemic by drawing a firm line on the age of access to these products and improving protections for young people from predatory industry marketing,” said Gan Quan, Senior Vice President, Tobacco Control at Vital Strategies.
Gan Quan continued: “Make no mistake, this Act threatens the tobacco industry’s interests, so government must be prepared to reject industry efforts to weaken and delay the implementation of the law. We urge the national and devolved governments and administrations to move swiftly to implement and enforce these life-saving measures and encourage them to look more closely at holding the ultimate driver of tobacco use and harm, the tobacco industry itself, accountable.”
There is no safe way to consume tobacco. The Act seeks to end the sale of combustible tobacco products to the next generation, while strengthening the regulation of e-cigarettes, non-nicotine vapes and other consumer nicotine products to protect consumers and deter youth uptake:
- Commencing January 1, 2027, it will be illegal for retailers to sell tobacco products including cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco, cigars, cigarillos, pipe tobacco, waterpipe or shisha, chewing tobacco, heated tobacco, nasal tobacco, herbal smoking products and cigarette papers to people born in or after 2009. Penalties are applied to the retailer; the young person is not criminalized.
- It will be illegal for retailers to sell vaping products (including non-nicotine vapes) and consumer nicotine products (such as pouches) to anyone under the age of 18. The new law will not criminalize underage purchase, possession or use of tobacco.
- There will be stricter regulations on the advertising and promotion of vaping and consumer nicotine products, broadly aligning with existing tobacco advertising restrictions.
- Policymakers will have powers to regulate or restrict in-store displays and flavours, packaging, colours, imagery and other design features that appeal to children.
- It will be illegal to sell tobacco, vaping and consumer nicotine products in vending machines to prevent youth access, with narrow exceptions for e-cigarette vending machines located in certain adult mental health inpatient settings in England and Wales.
- Policymakers will have powers to extend smoke-free rules to more outdoor areas, including places such as playgrounds, areas outside schools and hospital grounds, and to designate places currently covered by smoke-free rules as vape-free and heated tobacco-free.
- Policymakers will have powers to introduce a registration scheme for tobacco, vaping and consumer nicotine products, and to implement a registration and licencing scheme for retailers of these products, both building upon existing schemes. Enforcement powers will be strengthened.
- Policymakers will have powers to regulate or ban cigarette filters, which serve no health benefit and are one of the world’s leading causes of toxic plastic pollution.
- Policymakers will have powers to bring new nicotine or tobacco products within scope when they come onto the market, future-proofing policy in anticipation of new developments.
Accelerating progress in reducing tobacco use, protecting youth
The context for the introduction of this new bill is clear. While the UK has made significant progress in reducing smoking, declines have slowed in recent years.
“In the past 15 years, alternatives to smoking have exploded in popularity, particularly vapes. The changing landscape of nicotine use, particularly among children, has presented public health policymakers with new challenges and potentially reduced progress in the fight to address the world’s leading preventable killer – smoking.” said Sandra Mullin, Senior Vice President of Policy Advocacy and Communication “The UK’s early adoption of a policy of promoting switch and switch-to-quit through vaping was controversial; we believe this bill represents a thoughtful response to emerging public health data in the UK and elsewhere that show that promotion and availability of non-combustible products alone will not rapidly improve population health. They must be combined with aggressive policies that radically reduce the affordability, availability and promotion of cigarettes while safeguarding against youth uptake. Like the rest of the public health world, we will be watching for the early data around this bold policy with interest. Congratulations to our UK public health colleagues for their commitment to a world where cigarette smoking is a thing of the past.”
In the UK, every day 350 people aged 18-25 start smoking regularly and smoking rates remain stubbornly higher than the national average in lower socioeconomic areas, perpetuating inequity. Smoking is responsible for 80,000 deaths a year and 1 in 4 cancer-related deaths. It places a significant burden on the UK’s health system, with around one hospital admission every minute and up to 75,000 general practitioner appointments each month. The cost of smoking in 2023 was £21.9bn – a significant drain on the public purse.
This Act aims to create a smokefree generation, jump-starting further reductions in tobacco use into the future. The government estimates that this policy could lead to 1.7 million fewer people smoking by 2075, prevent 115,000 cases of serious illness and save billions in health and care costs. Researchers conclude the policy has the potential to reduce absolute and relative inequalities, the latter likely requiring targeted interventions to increase its effectiveness in lower socioeconomic areas.
The government’s Policy Paper notes that evidence of increasing youth use of nicotine products — a quarter of children had tried vaping in 2023 — and concerns around known and unknown health harms also have been key considerations. The risks from nicotine are particularly acute for adolescents, whose brains are still developing. The Act strengthens regulations to prevent children and young people under the age of 18 from being targeted by product design, flavors, advertising and promotions and from being able to purchase these products.
About Vital Strategies
Vital Strategies is a global health organization that believes all people should be protected by strong and equitable health policies and systems. We partner with governments, communities and organizations around the world to reimagine public health so that health is supported in all the places we live, work and play. The result is millions of people living longer, healthier lives around the world.
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