Vaping was only ever meant to be a cigarette temporary replacement

Zero Waste Scotland led the urgent review amid growing concerns about the widespread littering of the products, as well as their increasing popularity with young people.

The study found that more than half-a-million people in Scotland use e-cigarettes and a whopping two-thirds of all users are thought to be aged 25 or under.

While cigarettes have long been concealed behind grey shutters and subject to uniform plain packaging, vaping products have become a familiar burst of colour in local corner shops and supermarkets across Scotland.

Companies that manufacture these products currently benefit from a marketing sweet spot, where vapes are in common usage but subject to many fewer regulations than their tobacco-filled counterparts.

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It’s no surprise that under these conditions, vaping has soared in popularity in recent years.

The report suggests that, without intervention, 900,000 people in Scotland will be vaping by 2027.

But how worried should we be by that prospect?

While we don’t yet fully understand the health impact of long-term vaping, we know they are a safer bet than cigarettes. And many people vape as a way to quit smoking.

I’m one of them. Vaping was my golden ticket to saying goodbye to cigarettes for good.

But one year, 10 months and 14 days since my last cigarette, I’m now struggling to quit what was only ever meant to be their temporary replacement.

I’ve given it a go many times, but for me, vaping is far more difficult to give up than smoking was.

I say this as somebody who was an extremely enthusiastic smoker. I was on 20 a day, minimum – 30 if I was out for cocktails and 35 if I’d had a really good or bad day and was also out for cocktails.

The thought of never smoking again filled me with a sense of dread. But I did it. Vapes were a way to manage the physical cravings. I got that hit of nicotine my body was screaming for without the tar and tobacco and cancer-causing nasties that cigarettes also offer. But now I’m stuck with another expensive habit that I need to shake off.

Zero Waste Scotland’s report found that 22% of all under-18s used a vape in the last year. That’s a statistic that surely demands action.

Under-18s aren’t turning to vapes to try and kick a harmful cigarette habit. They’re choosing to begin vaping because they see everybody else doing it, and the sweet flavours and colourful packaging makes it an enticing prospect.

When they eventually decide to quit – either because they’re sick of tasting sour blueberry every time they cough, or because they realise they can’t afford it, or because new medical research comes out which suggests vaping isn’t as benign an activity as we once thought – they will really struggle.

When you stop smoking, the benefits are immediate

On day one, you don’t stink any more. You don’t need to go outside in the cold to get your fix. Soon, food tastes better and places where smoking isn’t allowed don’t stress you out in the way they once did.

One of the reasons I’ve struggled to quit vaping is that the benefits aren’t as tangible. But I’m determined to do it, because they cost a bloody fortune and my lungs deserve a break.

I wonder if we will at some point look back on this period of vape mania with the same astonishment as we do the smoking years.

When I was younger, I remember the eye-stinging experience of sitting in the smoking carriage of a train on a long journey. A time, well before I began smoking myself, of coming home from a club and having to wash the stench of other people’s cigarettes out of my hair.

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It seems wild to even imagine that now but maybe we’ll begin to think the same about vaping, once we know more about its long-term effects. The Scottish Government has said it will respond to the findings of the report in the autumn.

Recommendations for consideration include a complete ban on single-use vapes and a deposit return-style scheme to encourage recycling.

Up to 2.7 million single-use vapes are littered on Scotland’s streets every year, so it seems inevitable that the government will do something to try to tackle the growing problem.

Responding to the findings, Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater said “This report shows that single-use vapes have become a big problem – for our environment, local communities and young people. I will take action and will engage with those affected, including young people, over the coming months.”

Scotland has a chance to lead the way in our approach to single-use vapes and (as somebody who has become far too fond of the things) I really hope we take it.