<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper">What's happening? </h2>

Single-use plastic straws. XL bullies. Yesterday, British leader Rishi SunakA British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024. added one more thing to the list of banned items in Britain: disposableIntended to be thrown away after it is used. vapesE-cigarettes..

Today, it is already against the law to sell vapes to anyone under 18. But Sunak wants new laws to go further.

Studies show that 7.6% of children aged 11 to 17 in Great Britain now vape regularly or occasionally. Scientists are worried, because there is still a lot we do not know about how vaping affects health.

Some experts think that disposable vapes, which often come in brightly coloured packages with sweet flavours or smells, are encouragingPersuading someone to do something. more children to vape.

But will a ban work? History suggests that banning things does not always work out.

During the ProhibitionA total ban. In the US, it refers to the period between 1920 and 1933 in which alcohol was banned. era in the USA, when alcohol was banned, many people still found ways to find an illegalAgainst the law. drink. PharmacistsSomebody who is qualified to make and give out medicines. were allowed to give out whisky to cure some illnesses, so many people pretended to be pharmacists to sell alcohol.

Some historians even say the ban made health problems worse - illegal alcohol could be dangerous, and some people died from drinking it.

But not everyone agrees. The historian David Courtwright claims prohibition really did lower drinking by as much as 30%.⁵

The point of a ban, some say, is not to stop something entirely. It is simply the case that if you make it just a bit harder for people to do something, a lot of them will choose not to do it.

But do bans work?

<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper">Find out more </h2>

Yes! No ban will ever work completely. But it will stop a lot of people from making an easy and quick decision to try a vape. Fewer people will become addictedUnable to stop doing something. .

No! Bans hardly ever work. People will find ways around them and may even end up buying vapes illegally - and they will have no way to be sure of what is in them.

Rishi Sunak - A British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024.

Disposable - Intended to be thrown away after it is used.

Vapes - E-cigarettes.

Encouraging - Persuading someone to do something.

Prohibition - A total ban. In the US, it refers to the period between 1920 and 1933 in which alcohol was banned.

Illegal - Against the law.

Pharmacists - Somebody who is qualified to make and give out medicines.

Addicted - Unable to stop doing something.