Here’s the thing. Most of us assumed it was already illegal to sell a vape to a 15 year old. For the nicotine ones, it was. But a whole load of other stuff sat in a grey area, and as of Thursday 29 October that grey area has mostly gone.
New rules under the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 have now come into force across the UK. Netmums covered the changes on the morning they started, and the detail sits in the government’s guidance on selling vaping and nicotine products. Most of it is aimed at shops. One bit is aimed squarely at us.
What has actually changed
First, the age limit now covers everything. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the old rule only applied to nicotine vapes. Now it’s an offence for any retailer, online ones included, to sell any vaping product or nicotine product to anyone under 18. That includes nicotine free vapes, e liquids, coils and pods, and the newer nicotine products: pouches that sit between the gum and lip, strips that dissolve on the tongue, and little “pearls” that melt under the tongue. Scotland already had age limits on vapes with and without nicotine, and those now stretch to nicotine products too.
Second, buying on a kid’s behalf is now illegal for all of these products. The law calls it proxy purchasing. If you’re 18 or over and you buy, or even try to buy, a vape or a nicotine product for someone under 18, that’s an offence. You can read the wording yourself in section 11 of the Act for England and Wales.
Third, the freebies have gone. Shops can’t give away vapes or nicotine products, hand out promotional coupons, or sell them at a substantial discount to push them. The guidance gives the example of selling e liquid or a device for a token 10p. Normal clearance sales are still fine, and local stop smoking services can still hand out vapes to adult smokers who are trying to quit.
Fourth, vending machines selling or dispensing these products are now banned across the UK, according to the government’s vending machine guidance.
The bit that’s about us: £200 fines
This is where dads, uncles, older brothers and the mate who’s just turned 18 come in.
According to the fixed penalty notice guidance, Trading Standards in England and Wales can now issue a £200 fixed penalty for proxy purchasing vapes or nicotine products. The selling guidance says the same £200 applies in Scotland, and Northern Ireland is planning £250 if the Assembly approves it. If it goes to court instead, the fine can be up to £2,500 in England and Wales, and up to £5,000 in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
There is a defence if you genuinely had no reason to suspect the person was under 18. “He told me he was 18” will probably wear thin if he’s in your passenger seat in his school blazer, mind.
I’m not saying any of us is nipping to the corner shop to buy a mango flavoured vape for our 16 year old. But I’ve been a secondary teacher long enough to know kids get them from somewhere, and it isn’t always a dodgy shop.
Where kids are actually getting vapes
The numbers here come from the charity Action on Smoking and Health, whose 2026 youth survey asked 11 to 17 year olds across Great Britain in March and April this year.
- 19% had tried vaping, an estimated 1.1 million young people.
- 6% vape now, around 370,000, and 2% vape every day.
- Among those who currently vape, 47% said they buy from shops, despite the age limits, and 77% said vapes were very or quite easy to get hold of.
- Around three quarters were given their first vape, mostly by friends.
- About 1 in 100 use nicotine pouches, and nearly half had heard of them.
So most of it isn’t a sinister market. It’s mates passing them round, and shops that don’t check. The new rules go after the shops harder and make the older cousin route a fineable offence. They don’t touch the friend who hands one over at the bus stop.
The survey also asked why they started. The most common answer was “just to give it a try”, followed by joining in because other people use them. Fruit flavours were by far the most popular.
Is vaping actually that bad for teenagers?
It’s worth getting this right, because kids can smell exaggeration a mile off.
The NHS page on young people and vaping puts it plainly. Vaping is a tool to help adults stop smoking, not something for children or non smokers. It’s less harmful than smoking but not harmless, and we don’t yet know the longer term risks. Most vapes contain nicotine, which is addictive, and the evidence suggests young people’s developing brains are more sensitive to it.
Interestingly, the ASH survey found 62% of young people wrongly believe vaping is as harmful as smoking or worse. So the message that vapes are risky has landed, just not quite accurately.
One more thing that’s genuinely worth knowing. The government drugs advice service FRANK warns that vapes sold illegally may contain other drugs, and that some sold as cannabis vapes have turned out to contain synthetic cannabinoids or even ketamine. That’s a good reason to care where a vape came from, beyond the nicotine.
What dads can actually do this week
- Don’t buy them, for anyone under 18. Obvious, but now it comes with a fine.
- Have the chat, but make it a chat. The ASH Wales guide for parents suggests car journeys, walks, or doing something side by side rather than a formal sit down. Open with a question, something like asking what it’s like at school at the moment, and listen before you advise.
- Keep the facts short and honest. The same guide says a few facts are enough, and warns against exaggerating the risks to make the point stronger. Less harmful than smoking, not harmless, addictive, and illegal to sell to them. That’s the lot.
- If you find one, wait before you react. Both ASH Wales and Scotland’s Parent Club say give yourself a moment so it doesn’t turn into an interrogation. One vape doesn’t mean they’re hooked. Calm doesn’t mean anything goes, either. You can still set rules.
- Ask why. If it’s stress, or fitting in, that’s the actual problem to help with. The vape is the symptom.
- Report shops that sell to kids. If you know somewhere is selling to under 18s, the NHS points you to your local Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice reporting service. In Northern Ireland it’s your local council.
- Point them to FRANK. Its pages are written for under 18s and don’t preach, which is more than can be said for most of us.
What’s coming next
These rules are only the first stage. From 1 January 2027 in England and Wales, it becomes illegal to sell tobacco, herbal smoking products or cigarette papers to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, and the fixed penalty guidance says proxy buying those for that age group will also carry a fine. That takes in everyone currently in Year 12 and below, plus some of Year 13, and for them the ban lasts for life. Netmums also reports that the government intends to bring in a wider advertising and sponsorship ban from June 2027.
My daughter is in Year 7. For her lot, buying cigarettes will never be legal, and the vape rules are tighter than anything I grew up with. That’s progress. It doesn’t replace the conversation at home, though. That’s a lesson for another day, and probably one for the next long car journey.
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