The government’s decision to ban single-use vapes is a welcome one.

It sends a clear signal that vapes – originally designed as a smoking cessation tool – were never intended for young people, even though the marketing, flavours and appeal suggest otherwise.

So yes, it’s an important step.

But we do need to tread carefully.

We already know young people are accessing illegal vapes – unregulated products that can be incredibly dangerous.

We’ve heard first-hand accounts of kids ending up in hospital because they had no idea what was in them.

Some have been drug-laced. It’s frightening.

Trading standards are rightly cracking down, and that’s encouraging – but we have to be mindful about what could happen next.

The risk is that illegal vapes – now to include single-use ones – will simply go underground, becoming harder to monitor and even more unsafe.

Through our partnership work we are beginning to develop interventions that support young people to stop vaping altogether.

But if kids are curious – and let’s be honest, many are – we need to think about a harm reduction approach for those young people who try vaping or do it regularly.

That means supporting them to make safer choices about which vapes they use and buy through education and honest conversations.

Thanks for reading.