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Disposable vapes to be banned in England and Wales
- progbits 2y agoOh finally. I can't believe this bullshit was legal in the first place.
- idunnoman1222 2y agoYou can’t believe that making a small consumer electronic device was legal?
- calmoo 2y agoThat's a bit of a mischaracterisation of the point OP was making. It is a small consumer device with a battery, that only lasts a few days and is then tossed out. That should never have been legal in the first place.
- misnome 2y ago[flagged]
- bluGill 2y agoPlenty of children's toys are just as bad. All those musical toys/books you see: most of them do not have replaceable batteries - or the battery is replaceable but the retail price of the batteries is more than the whole toy (you can get sketchy batteries from the usual sketchy places for cheaper)
- kchr 2y agoAgreed, but they're not being tossed out into nature the same way these disposable vapes are.
- pjc50 2y agoMaking a consumer electronics device with the intent of it entering the regular waste stream? Fairly sure that was already illegal under WEEE, but the enforcement of that is so loose it's meaningless.
- Swarming 2y agoI’m a UK vaper (former smoker) and while I’m sure I’m going to find this annoying (disposables are helpful in a pinch when your proper vape has run out of battery or liquid), it’s clearly the right thing to do. The e-waste involved in that sub-industry must be absolutely horrifying. Tens of millions of tiny little batteries, surrounded in plastic, lingering quantities of nicotine-rich liquids… Glad this is happening. I’ll take the inconvenience on the chin lol
- Faaak 2y agoYeah, same. I'm all up for a "free country", and all that. But this was just absurd. I wonder if 30+ years don't the line, if maybe resources are scarcer, we'll think about these and say: "we were fucking crazy"
- exe34 2y agoat least we'll mine them. with helium, we put it in party balloons and lose it to space.
- r2_pilot 2y agoThere's plenty of helium in the solar system (granted, a bit further out) and the sun is producing 595 million tons per second.
- fragmede 2y agoLet me guess, you have plans that to mine that helium by working at night?
- exe34 2y agoyes, and it'll be very easy to capture in commercial quantities, I'm sure.
- r2_pilot 2y agoWhat, you've never heard of star-lifting? Or just getting it from Saturn? Commercial/economic quantities are all about the necessity versus scarcity, and helium has unique properties that can't be synthesized in sufficient quantities even if you ran all of Earth off fusion of hydrogen into helium.
- kelseyfrog 2y agoIf they're anything like the US, even though sales to children are banned, kids still get their hands on it. I have a family member who works directly with children and they constantly find kids vaping in the restrooms. At some point adults are distributing vapes to children despite the legality. If the most modulatable link in the supply chain is sales to adults who then distribute to children, that's unfortunately going to be the point that lawmakers target. Sucks to give people a chance and then be shown why we were wrong.
- bowsamic 2y agoHuh? This is a ban for everyone, not just children
- kelseyfrog 2y agoCorrect. What do you think I wrote?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- bowsamic 2y agoIf it’s banned for everyone, how would adults be able to buy them for children?
- kelseyfrog 2y agoI was describing the current state. Children cannot currently buy vapes; adults can. However, it still ends up in the hands of children.
- bowsamic 2y agoI don't see why that's relevant to the ban
- dejawu 2y agoAn ex of mine used disposable vapes and I was shocked by how beautifully designed some of them are - transparent covers with visible inner workings reminiscent of the Nothing phones; custom multi-segment displays for battery and temperature status; original artwork printed in vibrant color on the side. It made me even angrier that these things are meant to just be used once and then thrown out. Of course putting all this e-waste into the environment is a disaster, but to then also treat art and design as similarly disposable feels heartbreakingly cynical on another level entirely. I collected a few that she was going to throw out, someday™ I'll build some driver boards for the displays and make a little art piece out of them.
- gedy 2y agoDisplays? I'm curious to see these if you know what brand these were.
- okdood64 2y agohttps://flumgio.com/mello/ https://flumgio.com/mello/
- dejawu 2y agoLooks like one of them is Pyne Pod: https://www.pynepod.com/uploads/bd58c18e.png https://www.pynepod.com/uploads/bd58c18e.png The Geek Bar Pulse has the custom multi-segment on the side: https://oss.geekbar.com/products/meloso-ultra/2/Orange%20Creamsicle.png https://oss.geekbar.com/products/meloso-ultra/2/Orange%20Cre...
- donbateman 2y ago[flagged]
- some_random 2y agoThere's a huge difference between restricting people's right to defend themselves and their right to purchase shitty single use electronics that slowly kill them
- antihero 2y agoIf untrained people try to defend themselves with a pocket knife they are more likely to hurt themselves.
- bluGill 2y agoEven a trained person. A pocket knife is better than nothing, but not by much. Meanwhile a knife is a useful tool in a lot of situations.
- some_random 2y agoThat's just not true, knives are quite effective self defense tools that allow otherwise physically weaker individuals to inflict significant harm on attackers without much of any additional risk. I know that in the movies this isn't true, but that's just not a reflection of reality.
- some_random 2y agoThat simply isn't true, and even if it was there's no system by which trained people can be certified to carry any form of self defense tool.
- potato3732842 2y agoTo be fair, cigarettes are worse and pipes worse still, especially 2nd hand so it kind of makes sense that everyone was happy to have vapes proliferate.
- potato3732842 2y ago>The ban will not apply to rechargeable or refillable devices. My impression was that these make up the lion's share of "disposable" vape sales. I've certainly never known anyone to use anything else, but I'm also not 14 and vaping in the bathroom.
- postepowanieadm 2y agoThat's simply amazing: we fight with disposable plastic straws but we had no problem with single use electronics and battery. Insane.
- patrickmcnamara 2y agoClearly we did have a problem.
- bebrbrhrj 2y ago"We" does the heavy lifting. Profiteers had no problem. Vapers had no problem. The government had a problem. This shows democracy actually working IMO. You elect people you trust and then they do the right thing despite individual people not doing that collectively.
- noja 2y agoWhat are straws for anyway?
- foxyv 2y agoI non-disposable ones to keep cold and acidic drinks from washing over my sensitive teeth.
- bebrbrhrj 2y agoKids love em. Although I am impartial to a straw into a cold milkshake or mango smoothie on a hot day.
- 93po 2y agoin the US most people drink stuff with a ton of ice. it stops the ice from hitting your mouth/teeth when you drink. it's also easier to drink in a moving vehicle with a straw and not risk stuff splashing all over you
- 6SixTy 2y agoThere are plenty of people with motor issues where a straw really does mean having the freedom to drink on your own. Also, in the US, ice is more popular to add to your drink and a straw means not getting blasted with a bunch of ice.
- frou_dh 2y agoAside from the health/chemical-pollution aspects, these things have simply resulted in such ugliness because I see them strewn all over the ground every day. Apparently "disposable" means "throw on the ground".
- mrguyorama 2y agoThe overlap between "Uses nicotine" and "Just throws plastic shit on the ground" is astonishing. You do not see nearly as much littering from weed smokers for example.
- tartoran 2y agoThey could have played with incentives and monetary returns on used devices, same we do with deposits for empty cans or bottles and let the manufactures deal with all the waste/recycling. These disposable devices are clearly an environment problem. Where I am, NY, I've seen thrown all over the place and at first I had no idea what they were. I picked up one thinking it was some kind of device someone lost. I did the right thing and put it in a trash can but then recycling thoughts came to mind. I'm all in for punishing the companies that manufacture these, large fines are needed from discouraging them creating future problems like these.
- CharlieDigital 2y agoIt would probably cost more to recycle them; they are not like aluminum cans or glass bottles that can be easily recycled into raw materials.
- bloopernova 2y agoI don't think that prevents a programme to encourage responsible disposal. A $5 deposit on these vapes would get people to return them, and they could be recycled en masse even if it does cost more.
- jazzyjackson 2y agoI like the idea of a deposit but you still need someone to accept the waste - point of a deposit is you get it back, so how do you fund the responsible disposal?
- bloopernova 2y agoIf I were, say, a US state government, I'd fund the recycling just to keep them from polluting. I don't think it's a case of trying to break even, just to reduce the harm done by throwaway electronics/batteries.
- 2y ago
- potato3732842 2y ago>Batteries thrown into household waste also cause hundreds of fires in bin lorries and waste-processing centres every year. More or less than cigarettes? Serious question. I actually want to know.
- xelamonster 2y agoI'm not sure this will actually end up changing much because of how they've carved out exceptions for refillable or rechargeable devices. I don't vape nicotine but I occasionally buy a disposable THC vape, and nearly every one of them is technically rechargeable despite the fact that the charge generally lasts the life of the cartridge and there's no use for it afterwards. I wouldn't be surprised if UK vape vendors simply make minor changes to be compliant without really changing the product.
- dotBen 2y agoI've never vaped (/smoked/done drugs/etc I'm v boring) but can someone ELI5 why disposable vapes have been the preference? Don't you just buy the capsules and put them into your regarchable vape? Or if you want to get exotic e liquid. I would assume that's much cheaper than buying a whole device each time much must cost more $$/££.
- turndown 2y agoOn box mods(the big vapes you might recall starting to see 10-15 years ago) there is a chamber up top you have to manually fill with nicotine. This can be a bit annoying to do but the real problem is remembering to bring liquid to refill with. That’s really the only negative to the large box mods, other than having to recharge 18650 batteries all the time. But disposables are usually much smaller(easier to hide if you’re in school), use nicotine salts(which are much more potent) and they usually last a long time - sometimes 20k hits. So these aren’t “bad” products, they have a lot of selling points.
- extr 2y agoIMO the main culprit is the over regulation of semi/non-disposable vapes/nicotine which still require more R&D to make accessible and easy to use for any consumer. This disposables are just plain better because the internals of vapes are finicky. Coils, wicking, batteries, juice, all in a very small package. it’s literally easier to just throw the entire thing away than to worry about the specifics, try to buy the separate components and replace them as they age, etc. It’s why semi-disposable pod systems like juul are also quite successful.
- xelamonster 2y agoRechargeable vape pens are incredibly cheap, and disposables aren't noticeably more expensive overall so the cost difference is insignificant. Couple reasons for a preference (personally don't vape nicotine and I've never cared strongly about disposable vs not): - Disposables won't die on you. Unless you're getting massive carts the battery tends to last the whole time and you never worry about charging. - Guaranteed compatible. I've seen seemingly standard carts not work with certain pens which can be very frustrating. - The standard 510 thread cartridge kinda sucks. I'm not sure if it's a design flaw or a lot of bad manufacturers but they tend to leak and develop blockages.
- mgraczyk 2y agoDisposable vapes aren't legal in the US but they are available everywhere
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Closi 2y agoNext step they should put a minimum price on non-disposable vapes at £50-£100.
- whatwhaaaaat 2y ago[flagged]
- danielktdoranie 2y agoGood to see the government is solving real problems.
- throw156754228 2y agoIf only I had a pound for every discarded vape canister littered on the ground I've seen in London over the past few years. Will the ban fix this? I barely even know what a vape is.
- willy_k 2y agoNot that you asked, but a vape is a device consisting of a metal coil that has electricity ran through it to vaporize a mixture of nicotine (either in its salt or free base form), propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, and other additives and flavoring that has soaked into a (usually cotton) wick so that this vapor can be inhaled. There are disposable vapes that provide all of these in one bright candy-flavored package, and diy-style “pod mods” and “box mods” with modular tanks/pods and coils (and parts of coils for real enthusiasts), the latter which is filled by bottles of the same type of nicotine pg/vg liquid. They are available in different flavors, different ratios of pg/vg, different concentrations, and with the salt of or free base nicotine. A disposable ranges from $10-40, a mod ranges from around $30-300, and bottles range between around $15-$30. They are kind of nice but addictive and pointless.
- z3ncyberpunk 2y agoGood. Disposable vapes are a plague