It seems that vapes have become ubiquitous on Britain’s streets, carried around by anyone and everyone, whether it be secretaries, singers, schoolchildren or squirrels. The statistics prove it: around 9 per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds use vapes, while 10 per cent of Britons aged 16 or over use e-cigarettes — overtaking regular smokers.
Rise of Vaping
Around 35 million adults use e-cigarettes globally, most of whom will have switched from using traditional cigarettes either for health reasons or to avoid the rising cost of tobacco products. But this doesn’t reveal the whole story. The vape market has boomed over the last two decades, predominantly by advertising itself as a healthier way for consumers to get their nicotine fix. A highly addictive chemical, nicotine triggers the brain to release dopamine just 15 seconds after vape fluid or cigarette smoke is inhaled. After regular usage, the body begins to crave that ‘rush’.
Faced with rising inflation, stagnant wages and a doomscrolling-driven loneliness epidemic, Britons are turning to nicotine as a way of coping with stress. Generally, when people are stressed or unhappy, they are more likely to turn to unhealthy habits that feel good in the moment — evidenced by the fact that levels of nicotine addiction are higher in areas of deprivation. For instance, smoking remains more prevalent in Scotland and Wales than it does in England. And a greater proportion of women, who bear the brunt of caring responsibilities and household chores, have taken up vaping in recent years.
But there must be another reason why e-cigarettes have found favour with schoolchildren. Aside from being more affordable compared to cigarettes, vapes are known for their neon packaging and range of flavours that make them taste suspiciously similar to sweets. Ministers have argued that these products are therefore being made particularly appetising to, and directly marketed towards, young people. It is now known that the part of a child’s brain responsible for emotional control and decision-making takes time to develop. This makes children especially susceptible to clever marketing tactics that tempt them to try a ‘cool’ and aesthetically pleasing new product, such as a flavoured vape.
Ironically, vapes were supposed to help smokers quit cigarettes, yet evidence shows that Gen Z and Alpha are bypassing tobacco completely in favour of vaping and marijuana. Who made vaping trendy, though? Perhaps, we should point the finger at young people’s idols — they are arguably the ones who have normalised the consumption of nicotine. Vapes are currently all the rage amongst the stars. Once viewed as a dirty habit to be indulged in behind closed doors. Now, celebrities are more than happy to be papped with a vape, even on the Met Gala red carpet, as was the case with rapper Doja Cat in 2023 and designer Marc Jacobs in 2026. Britain’s elite are not immune to the temptations of nicotine. Politicians such as Jess Phillips and Angela Rayner have a well-documented penchant for vaping, while Charli XCX continues to popularise the hedonistic Brat lifestyle. But the increasing glamorisation of vaping should concern us all. Yes, many people believe vapes to be healthier than cigarettes. But that doesn’t mean they are a healthy lifestyle choice.
Significant Health Risks
Unlike tobacco, e-cigarettes do not contain tar and carbon monoxide. However, vapes have been known to contain heavy metals such as lead, carcinogens and diacetyl, a chemical linked to popcorn lung, all of which cause irreparable damage to pulmonary tissue. Policies have been enacted to make e-cigarettes safer (diacetyl was outlawed across the EU back in 2016, for example), but consumers should understand that vaping is by no means ‘healthy.’ A 2025 study published in the NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine Journal sought to analyse the effect of vapes on the risk of developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), characterised by persistent lung inflammation and restricted airflow. The study found that while COPD is often a result of chain-smoking, ‘e-cigarette use was associated with significantly higher odds of COPD compared to non-use’ because the ‘aerosols still contain substances that may harm the respiratory system’ and ‘irritate the airways.’
Another study, this time from the University of Canterbury, recently concluded that ‘vaping presents an unquantifiable cancer risk.’ This is because vaping fluid has been found to contain low levels of toxic chemicals linked to cancer, like formaldehyde, but symptoms may take 15 years or more to develop. Some experts have gone as far as to claim that vaping is an ‘even worse’ cancer risk than smoking:
‘Vaping is definitely a cancer risk and it’s been well established in the lab,’ says renowned physician, researcher and author Dr William Li. ‘It’s being seen in the clinic and arguably the chemicals in these vaping solutions are even more irritating, even more toxic, than traditional tobacco.’
He questions the assertion that vaping is a healthier alternative to smoking, adding that regardless of whether someone consumes nicotine via a vape, a cigarette or a cigar, ultimately, ‘you’re putting toxins into your lungs.’ This is a lesson that a British tween learned the hard way. At just 12-years-old, Sarah Griffin suffered lung collapse in 2023 as a result of her addiction to ‘big puff’ vapes. Sarah, who now has permanent pulmonary damage, advises other young people not to start vaping, because ‘you only stop when you basically have to, when it’s a life or death situation.’ Yet the fact that a quarter of secondary-school-aged children have tried vaping proves that many youngsters either remain unaware of the harmful implications of vaping or are already addicted to e-cigarettes.
‘Unfortunately, we’ve seen an explosion of youth vaping with rates more than doubling in five years,’ Health Secretary Wes Streeting told The Mirror.
Fortunately, sales of disposable e-cigarettes have fallen by 23 per cent since the implementation of the single-use vape ban in 2025. And they should continue to fall now that the Tobacco and Vapes Bill has recently passed Parliament. However, six million vapes are still thrown away every week in the UK, which poses environmental risks. E-cigarettes are powered by lithium-ion batteries and, as such, are liable to catch fire in people’s homes or in bin lorries if they are not disposed of properly. Scotland alone reported 69 incidents of lithium batteries triggering fires last year. Aside from the immediate danger to life, the infernos also cause temporary spikes in air pollution above the WHO’s limit, which could lead to locals developing respiratory infections or asthma, even if the exposure is only short-term.
The risks of vaping are real and serious. Despite government efforts to curb the nation’s vaping habit, many young people struggle to say no to vaping when they see their friends, celebrities and politicians publicly using vapes. And though 63 per cent of youths think that vaping is ‘as or more harmful than smoking,’ many continue to use them despite the health risks.
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