Exclusive:
We asked three teenagers, aged 16 and 17, to visit shops in their area and attempt to purchase vapes. Despite it being illegal to sell vapes to under 18s, they managed to buy them at a number of outlets.
As disposable vapes are set to be banned in England and Wales from June next year, we take a look at how easy it is for youngsters to purchase them illegally.
Ministers in England said the move, first announced in January by the previous government but not enacted before the general election, is intended to prevent environmental damage and protect children’s health.
It is illegal to sell vaping products to or buy them for anyone under 18 – but our investigation found it was easy for children to buy vapes without proving their age in as many as half the shops they visited.
In Blackburn, Lancs, teenager Abi Buckley, 17, purchased three e-cigarettes in just 30 minutes.
Without being asked her age or for ID, she bought a £4.99 Elf Bar at the One Stop convenience store in Shadsworth, Blackburn, a £6 version at the Best-One on Rothesay Road, and a £15 7,000-puff vape at Vapers Avenue.
Another shop told Abi they had sold out of Elf Bars and two others asked for ID and refused to serve her.
In Bury, Greater Manchester, Abi was sold a £5 Elf Bar in Walmersley Food & Booze on Walmersley Road and in the Nisa Local on Parkhills Road without being questioned. Eight other shops refused to serve her after asking her age or for ID.
Meanwhile, in the North East, Alexandra Green, 16, bought five vapes from 10 shops on the same day without being asked her age.
The sixth-former got a £5 Elf Bar from Quality Vapes in Wallsend, North Tyneside, a £4.99 Lost Mary vape at VPZ on Market Street, Newcastle, a £7 Lost Mary at the Mac Repair store in Newcastle, a disposable Lost Mary from Uptons Vapourium on Chillingham Road, Newcastle, and a £7 Elux disposable vape at Best-One Convenience Store on Grainger Street, Newcastle. Flavours included blue razz lemonade and cotton candy.
And Anton Jenkins, 16, was sold a £4.50 apple peach Elf Bar at the Sam Mart convenience store in Bristol Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham, despite saying he did not have proof of age on him. Staff told him to bring ID next time. Six other shops turned the teen down.
The number of teens vaping has nearly doubled in just two years, according to research by Action on Smoking Health. Vaping by kids aged 11-17 rose from 4 percent in 2020 to 7 percent in 2022, it found, while more than a quarter of 16 and 17-year-olds have tried e-cigarettes.
Public health minister Andrew Gwynne said banning disposables would “reduce the appeal of vapes to children and keep them out of the hands of vulnerable young people”.
Vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking, but it has not been around for long enough for its long-term risks to be known, according to the NHS.
The products are also difficult to recycle and typically end up landfill, where their batteries can leak harmful waste like battery acid, lithium, and mercury into the environment, the government said.
One Stop in Shadsworth, Walmersley Food & Booze in Bury, the Mac Repair store in Newcastle, and Sam Mart, Selly Oak, all said staff were trained to ask for ID with proof of age. Quality Vapes in Wallsend said it would train workers to prevent any other underage sales, and VPZ in Market Street, Newcastle, said it had suspended a member of staff.
Baz Aslam, owner of the Nisa Local in Parkhills Road, Bury, said: “I have a very strict policy of no ID, no service. The staff member may lose their job.”
Mr Singh, owner of the Best-One in Rothesay Road, Blackburn, said: “I don’t sell to under-18s.”
No one at Vapers Avenue, Blackburn, or Best-One, Grainger Street, Newcastle, responded to calls.
A spokesman for Uptons Vapourium, Newcastle, said: “We run a strict policy. I don’t know how it slipped through the net. I would love to see them banned.”
