As the final weeks of the year come to an end, our New Year’s resolutions are beginning to be finalized. For countless teenagers and young adults across the world, quitting nicotine may be at the top of their list, especially as vaping continues to become more and more normalized within this age group as the years go on.
For people living in the United Kingdom, this resolution may have become more topical. Starting in June 2025, the UK government will outlaw the sale and possession of disposable vapes. The ban addresses the products’ environmental damage and increasing popularity among children and teenagers. This decision was made to help emphasize the UK’s attempts to transition into a more circular and environmentally friendly economy. This transition is expected to help bring down waste, as well as propel the country into its net zero-emission goals.
Disposable vapes have severe environmental impacts. Their lithium-ion batteries and nicotine e-liquid are unrecyclable and create hazardous waste. Vapes are composed of multiple products that require mining in regions that contribute to human rights violations in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Throughout the past few years, the impacts of mining cobalt – a material necessary for the production of lithium-ion batteries – have included human rights abuses, the employment of child labor, as well as the displacement of multiple Indigenous communities.
Beyond the human rights and environmental implications, the ban was also introduced to tackle the disturbing increase in nicotine addictions among teenagers and young adults. In Britain, the number of children who vape has doubled compared to those who smoke cigarettes. A survey by UK Smoking and Health revealed a staggering “9-fold increase” in youth vaping from 2021 to 2023, underscoring the severity of the issue.
The United States should focus on providing similar methods to help stop this immense issue. Vaping has now turned into an urgent global public health issue. One which is also severely affecting the United States. The normalization of vaping can be easily spotted throughout social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter. TikToks aimed at younger audiences, that accumulate millions of likes, are a perfect example of the normalization of nicotine use within our society nowadays.
Research from the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention highlights that college students often “vape much more than they realize,” further exacerbating the issue.
This normalization has turned vaping into a global public health crisis, with significant
implications for the United States. According to the Tobacco Control website, social media is currently framing the use of e-cigarettes and vaping in a positive light, encouraging their use among young people.
As we approach the new year, the United States should replicate the UK’s new law to help tackle this urgent and critical issue. Decisive action is needed to curb the rise of nicotine addiction and its broader societal impacts, including its adverse environmental effects. Hopefully, the upcoming year will mark a turning point for many countries in the fight against this urgent public health crisis.
