An EU study found that single-use e-cigarettes were popular among people aged 15 to 24 (Nicolas TUCAT) (Nicolas TUCAT/AFP/AFP)
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Belgium becomes first EU country to ban single-use e-cigarettes
Matthieu Demeestere and Jeremy Audouard
Extremely popular with young people for their dizzying array of flavors, including apple, watermelon, and cola, the time has come for disposable e-cigarettes in Belgium - the first EU country to ban them.
From January 1st, the sale of single-use vapes will be banned in Belgium in a bid to protect the health of young people as part of a national anti-smoking plan.
The European Union aims to achieve a tobacco-free generation by 2040, reducing the smoking population in the 27-country bloc from around 25% today to less than 5% of the total.
Some EU countries plan to bring forward this deadline.
Vapes are often promoted as less harmful than smoking traditional tobacco products.
They attract younger users with their colorful packaging and the promise of mouth-watering flavors, as well as the advantage of avoiding that unpleasant smell of smoke on your fingers.
But as e-cigarettes still contain nicotine, which is highly addictive, critics fear they could be a possible stepping stone to more traditional tobacco products.
“The problem is that young people start using vapes without always knowing their nicotine content, and nicotine is addictive,” said Nora Melard, spokesperson for the Alliance for a Tobacco-Free Society in Belgium.
“We have young people saying that they wake up at night to take a puff,” she told AFP. “It's very worrying.”
Belgium prides itself on having reacted quickly to the dangers posed by disposable e-cigarettes, which hit the market more than five years ago.
In 2021, the federal government submitted a proposal to the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, to ban single-use vapes.
The commission, which must approve any sales ban, gave Belgium the green light in March 2024, paving the way for a national law to come into force.
France has obtained EU acceptance for a similar ban.
Once enacted, the French law will ban the production, sale, and gift of vapes, with a fine of 100,000 euros ($104,000) for any violation.
- Ecological disaster
Health authorities in France and Belgium claim that chronic nicotine consumption is especially damaging to teenagers' brains and can encourage the use of other drugs.
An EU study in 2023 found that the majority of e-cigarette users opted for a rechargeable vaporizer, but single-use versions were popular among 15 to 24-year-olds.
Easy to use and advertised everywhere on social media, disposable vapes are also attractive because of their low cost.
For five or six euros, a single-use vaporizer is half the price of a pack of 20 cigarettes. Some allow up to 9,000 puffs, the equivalent of more than 300 cigarettes, according to experts.
Many tobacconists in Brussels are running out of single-use e-cigarettes because refurbishment is impossible.
“I don't understand why vapes are banned and not tobacco, which is also dangerous,” a young user, Ilias Ratbi, told AFP.
Others welcome the ban. “I think it's good to stop selling,” said Yona Bujniak in central Brussels. “There are a lot of young people who start without necessarily thinking about the consequences.”
Opponents also point to the “ecological disaster” caused by disposable vapes.
In seeking EU approval for its ban, Belgium argued that the single-use plastic vaporizer with its lithium battery is usually thrown away within five days of purchase.
On the other hand, rechargeable versions can last around six or seven months.
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