Don’t follow Australia on vaping ban, says IEA expert
21 June 2023
SUGGESTED
Monetary Policy
In the Media
Uncategorized
20 January 2026
Commenting on the Health Secretary Steve Barclay’s suggestion that the UK could learn lessons from Australia’s approach to vaping, Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:
“The only thing Britain can learn about vaping from Australia is what not to do. Its policy of prohibition has given it the worst of both worlds. It has a massive black market for e-cigarettes and tobacco. It is the only developed country where teenagers’ smoking and vaping rates are rising. Australians are now in the process of trying to ban e-cigarettes for a third time.
“The UK has fairly sensible laws on e-cigarettes. We just need to enforce them. Australia has stupid laws and should be ignored, except as a cautionary tale.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Contact: media@iea.org.uk / 07763 365520
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.
“The only thing Britain can learn about vaping from Australia is what not to do. Its policy of prohibition has given it the worst of both worlds. It has a massive black market for e-cigarettes and tobacco. It is the only developed country where teenagers’ smoking and vaping rates are rising. Australians are now in the process of trying to ban e-cigarettes for a third time.
“The UK has fairly sensible laws on e-cigarettes. We just need to enforce them. Australia has stupid laws and should be ignored, except as a cautionary tale.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Contact: media@iea.org.uk / 07763 365520
- The prevalence of smoking among 14 to 17-year-olds in Australia has risen from 2% to 13% between 2018 and 2023.
(Source: Australian Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care, Current vaping and current smoking in the Australian population aged 14+ years: February 2018-March 2023, May 2023)
- The youth smoking rate in the United Kingdom, among 16 to 24-year-olds, has declined in recent years, from 28% to 14% between 2018 and 2021 (Source: Office for National Statistics, Adult smoking habits in Great Britain, December 2022).
- The proportion of pupils, aged 11 to 15, who were regular smokers in the United Kingdom declined from 2% to 1% between 2018 and 2021 (Source: NHS Digital, Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England, 2021: Data tables, September 2022)
- In September 2021, the IEA published Vaping Works: Inerational Best Practices by Christopher Snowdon, and in April 2022 published Vaper Trails: New nicotine products and the innovation principle by Victoria Hewson and Christopher Snowdon.
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.
SHARE
