With the ever more pertinent issue of e-cigarettes plaguing the current youth generation, it is imperative that the government attempts to dissuade the purchase of these items including disposable vapes and refillable devices. This is especially suitable due to the very recent nascence of the item with the first e-cigarette being invented only in 2003 and thus meaning we do not have sufficient primary data on the long-term damaging effects of their regular usage. 

 

On the release of the original cigarette, from the 1930s to the 1950s, even doctors prescribed them to their patients. Before the dangers of cigarettes were well known, accompanied by vigorous advertising campaigns by American Tobacco, the public were naïve to the numerous costs to health smoking entailed. Now, of course, the potentially devastating consequences are undisputed, with almost six million deaths a year attributed to smoking, according to the World Health Organisation. 

 

A very similar phenomenon may be occurring before our eyes with the use of e-cigarettes being commonly seen to be a less harmful alternative to regular cigarette use. With many shared constituent parts between vapes and cigarettes, including the inhalation of nicotine, with the addition of other chemicals, it is likely that vaping is similarly harmful to one’s body as smoking. The NHS does encourage e-cigarettes to those who currently smoke in an attempts to quit nicotine; the problem I would attempt to solve, with a proposed increased tax, is for those who do not smoke cigarettes but decide to begin vaping. This is then likely to make young people, with constantly developing brains, addicted to nicotine and perhaps even more likely to smoke cigarettes in the future.

 

Currently, e-cigarettes are taxed as a consumer product with the VAT rate being 20%. With tobacco products being taxed at a higher rate there is already a clear, yet counterproductive, financial benefit for purchasing these items instead. I would propose an additional 5% to be added to this ad-valorem tax. There were estimated to be 2.9 million vapers in Britain in 2018 with the number drastically increasing to 3.6 million now. The 5% extra tax would accumulate to an estimated £40 million to the budget which could be used the fund the NHS especially in these trying times where our National Health Service are being stretched to their limit. Inherently, preventing even some vaping-related treatments to be administered will ease the burden on the NHS which is another benefit of this tax.

 

We can see a similar type of tax having been introduced very recently in California further emphasising how necessary it is to mitigate this severe problem. Amid concern over widespread teen vaping, Governor Gavin Newsom approved a new 12.5% excise tax on electronic cigarettes to be paid by Californian consumers and this money will be used to boost public health and education programs. The aim of this legislation is to discourage vaping by minors and bring taxes on e-cigarettes more in line with levies on other tobacco products as we gradually learn more about their potential very harmful effects. The State Senator, Caballero, said ‘Vaping has become increasingly popular… this is especially evident among our youth, and made worse by the availability of youth-appealing flavours such as gummy bears and cotton candy.’

 

It is clearly an internationally recognised problem with the potential to be mitigated through taxation and therefore the UK must not be left behind in tackling the issue. Perhaps even a similar excise duty could be introduced later on to discourage production in tandem with my proposed increased 5% tax on all devices sold to consumers to even further discourage their consumption. 

 

Overall, this tax seems acceptable and beneficial to the public at large. It will most likely reduce the level of consumption of vape devices, especially in teens who are more likely to be receptive to a change in price because of their lower incomes. An increased tax is more likely to dissuade these younger people from buying the product since they already may not be able to afford this luxury item and therefore the exact outcome that we are attempting to produce is entailed. This tax could be seen to encourage adults to stick to real, currently more harmful, cigarettes, however, I believe that this small increase in VAT paid will affect the older population’s tendency to buy vapes much less and therefore less emphasis can be placed on this factor.