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Jersey might be on course to ban single-use vapes by next summer – but the Children's Minister says more needs to be done to crack down on Jersey's teenage vaping epidemic.
Constable Richard Vibert said further work could include stricter enforcement of the island’s under-18 age restrictions for all vapes and collaboration with the Health Minister.
This comes after a consultation with Jersey students found that in a group of 15 to 17-year-olds, the daily vaping use was 81.25%.
Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan this week lodged a proposition to extend the island's existing legislation around single-use plastics to include disposable e-cigarettes.
The proposals are set to be debated by the States Assembly in December, and if approved, a six-month transition period will be offered to allow businesses to manage remaining stock, with full enforcement expected by mid-2025.
The report accompanying the proposition explained that the proposed ban aims to address the environmental impact of single use vapes, but there are other elements of vape usage in Jersey which are damaging to health and wellbeing, particularly among young people.
A joint investigation by Bailiwick Express and the Jersey Evening Post last year revealed how sweet-inspired flavours, highlighter-style packaging, and a lack of regulation meaning products that are illegal in the UK can still be sold locally had helped spawn what one local doctor described as a "generation of nicotine-addicted kids" in Jersey.
Criticism has also been levelled at the lack of restrictions around vape marketing strategies which target children.
Constable Vibert, speaking to Express, said that while vapes were not within his portfolio, he "would like to see more work done" in the area.
Pictured: Richard Vibert is the Constable of St Peter and Children's Minister.
Constable Vibert said: "I've always supported a law banning disposable vapes, because it's not only the effect on the environment, but of course, these get young people into vaping."
He added: "You can still get the vaping fluids and perhaps there should be more done to enforce age restrictions.
"There is an age restriction already, but we will want to see that properly enforced because I certainly see people who are under 18 using disposable vapes."
He also admitted that the impacts on health could be considered further, saying that work could be done in collaboration with Health Minister Tom Binet.
The proposed ban comes in response to a rapid increase in the popularity of disposable vapes, particularly among young islanders, with Public Health statistics revealing that 96% of local children and young people who vape opt for single-use vapes.
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