Exclusive:
Next-generation ‘smart vapes’ with built-in games and social media apps are being ‘targeted at kids’, health officials in the US have warned – and it’s feared they are coming to the UK
‘Smart vapes’ that allow users to play games and scroll social media could soon end up in the hands of British children, campaigners fear.
The next-generation nicotine devices – which are available to buy online – feature a touch screen, let users install apps and even have push notifications enabled, just like a smartphone. Parents and worried campaigners have spoken out about the devices after they were spotted among schoolchildren in the US, prompting a crackdown from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – and there are now growing fears the vapes could be making their way to the UK after they recently turned up in Europe.
In October, the FDA sent out warning letters to nine online retailers and one manufacturer for selling or distributing the “illegal” e-cigarettes, which they said were being deliberately targeted at children. Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said: “These products may resemble smart devices, but there’s nothing smart about them. They’re illegal to sell and a flagrant attempt to target kids.” He pledged to use the FDA’s “federal enforcement partners” to address the unauthorised tobacco products, “especially those most appealing to youth”.
One of the devices shown in the FDA’s warning appeared to be modelled after the Nintendo Gameboy and featured a gaming control pad. The Mirror found this device available for shipping to the UK from a online vape retailer. A different vape device with a digital smart screen was shown off to attendees during the Vaper 2024 convention at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham this May.
A doctor also sounded the warning in the Netherlands last month after a similar smart vape was seen being used by a teenage patient. Paediatric pulmonologist Sanne Hammer spotted the gadget on a 16-year-old patient in the Amphia Hospital in Breda – and told RTL Nieuws that she believed cynical manufacturers had “combined the two most addictive products for children at the moment”.
Campaigners in the UK have described the smart devices as a “needless gimmick” targeted at children ahead of proposed new ban on disposable vapes. Hazel Cheeseman, Chief Executive at the Action on Smoking and Health campaign group told the Mirror: “Vapes are proven aids to quitting smoking but they’re not recommended for non-smokers or for children as while less harmful than smoking they’re unlikely to be risk free.
“This type of adornment is a needless gimmick. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, currently before parliament, will give government the power to regulate devices far more tightly and get rid of any aspects that do not aid public health. MPs from across the House backed the Bill at second reading last week and it is likely to become law next year.”
