Plain packaging and vaping: A balancing act between youth protection and adult harm reduction

When the government’s long-awaited Tobacco and Vapes Bill makes its way through Parliament this autumn, one of the most contentious issues on the table will be packaging. Should e-cigarettes be stripped of their bright colours, bold fonts and quirky flavour descriptors in favour of stark, uniform designs modelled on cigarette packs? Or would such measures backfire, discouraging smokers from switching to vaping – the very switch that public health policy has been encouraging for more than a decade?

Two major studies published this year have reignited the debate. One, appearing in The Lancet Regional Health, suggests plain packaging cuts adolescent appeal without dampening adult interest. The other, published in Tobacco Control, found that standardisation significantly reduced smokers’ willingness to try vapes. The tension between these findings speaks to a broader dilemma: how to deter youth uptake without undermining harm reduction for adults.

What the new research says

The Lancet study, led by University College London (UCL) and King’s College London in partnership with Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), surveyed nearly 2,800 young people aged 11–18 and 3,900 adults across the UK. Participants viewed images of vape pod packs in three formats: branded, plain white with black text and flavour descriptors, and (for adults only) coded versions replacing flavour names with identifiers such as ‘FR127’.

The results were striking. Among adolescents, 53 per cent believed their peers would be interested in trying branded vape pods, compared with just 38 per cent for plain white packs. For adults, however, packaging style made little difference.

“Vape packaging and flavour regulations need to strike a delicate balance,” said lead author Dr Eve Taylor from UCL’s Department of Behavioural Science & Health. “Our findings, in line with past evidence, show that regulating vape packaging might be helpful by reducing vaping’s appeal to adolescents but not adults. This gets us close to striking that balance.”

The study arrives at a critical moment. Youth vaping has risen sharply: ASH’s 2024 Youth Survey estimated 400,000 adolescents currently vape in Great Britain, with about 40 per cent of them vaping daily.

The counterpoint: smokers put off

Just months earlier, the Tobacco Control journal published findings from the International Tobacco Control Youth and Young Adult Survey, covering more than 15,000 participants in England, Canada and the US. It examined reactions to standardised packaging on popular disposable vapes.

Here the impact on smokers was most pronounced. The share of smokers reporting “no interest” in trying vapes jumped from 37.5 per cent to 47.5 per cent when viewing standardised packs. For dual users – smokers who also vape – the figure rose from 9.5 per cent to 13.5 per cent.

Lead researcher Harry Tattan-Birch of UCL warned: “There is a risk that the public health benefits of preventing youth uptake could be offset by a decline in the number of smokers transitioning to exclusive vaping.”

By contrast, the effect on never-users – the group packaging restrictions are meant to deter – was marginal. Over 90 per cent already expressed no interest in vaping, regardless of whether the packaging was branded or plain.

Industry voices: support, scepticism and warnings

The publication of the latest study has drawn sharp responses from across the vaping sector.

A Vape Superstore spokesperson welcomed efforts to curb youth access but stressed the importance of maintaining vaping’s appeal for adults.

“We fully support active measures that prevent under 18s from accessing vapes, including strict age-verification processes both online and in-store,” the spokesperson said.

“At the same time, we believe vaping must remain an attractive alternative for adult smokers looking to quit cigarettes. Packaging, flavours and product choice play an important role in encouraging smokers to make the switch and stay smoke-free. Overly standardised packaging risks diluting that appeal for adults, potentially slowing down quit rates.

“The priority should be clear, enforceable rules that stop youth access, whilst ensuring vaping continues to be a viable, effective harm-reduction tool for adults.”

For John Patterson, president of IKE Tech, packaging is just one part of the puzzle – and not the most important one.

“It’s significant that 38 per cent of young people would still try vapes despite these measures. The real drivers go far beyond what’s on the box,” he said.

A recent whitepaper by IKE Tech showed that social drivers now outrank flavour as an appeal for UK children with peer pressure/social influence (59 per cent) and easy access via friends/stores/online (41 per cent) being key drivers.

“To make meaningful progress, we must move beyond viewing less appealing packaging and traditional age checks as sufficient, and instead focus on preventing access at the point of use,” Patterson argued.

“This means embracing technology that verifies a user’s age before a device can be activated, shifting the focus from the point of sale to the point of use.”

The Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA), which represents small independent businesses, highlighted limitations in the Lancet study. Its concern is that smokers and vapers – the groups most relevant for harm reduction – were the ones most deterred by plain packaging.

“The  researchers have failed to add to their interpretation their findings that ‘adults who currently smoked had significantly greater odds of reporting that they would not be interested in trying vaping products in standardised packaging with usual flavour descriptors’ and ‘adults who currently vaped had significantly greater odds of reporting that they would not be interested in trying vaping products with standardised packaging with usual flavour descriptors’. So, in effect, plain packaging had little effect on adults’ interest in vapes unless they currently vape or smoke,” the IBVTA said.

“The majority of smokers incorrectly believe vapes are as harmful as, or more harmful than smoking already. Surely the last thing smokers need is yet another disincentive to switching completely to vaping.

The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) was more forthright. Director General John Dunne warned that cigarette-style packaging could actively drive ex-smokers back to tobacco.

“The last thing we need is to package vaping products like cigarettes. Studies from the UK, Canada and the USA all show that plain packaging reduces the appeal to adults and smoking rates have increased in countries where these changes have been made,” Dunne noted.

“Not only is vaping the most effective way of helping smokers quit, it carries only a small fraction of the risk and that is the message we need to get across to the UK’s six million smokers.

Packaging in context: the wider regulatory landscape

The debate is not happening in a vacuum. The single use vapes ban, which came into force in June 2025 removed the products that were cited as most commonly used by young people from the market. An excise duty is coming into force in October of next year, which will more than double the cost of some of the products relied on by adult smokers.

Increased penalties for retailers who illegally sell to children are already on their way as part of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, and these will include closure orders for repeat offenders. A new licensing scheme also makes up part of the Bill, with the intent that the retailers currently ill-equipped to sell age restricted products might be curtailed.

Packaging restrictions form only one strand of this tightening framework. For some, the combination risks undermining adult harm reduction.

Marketing, perception and the power of packaging

Part of the controversy stems from what packaging represents. In a heavily regulated market where advertising is tightly restricted, packaging is one of the last remaining marketing levers available to vape brands.

Bright colours, playful fonts, even cartoon mascots – critics argue these are clear attempts to appeal to children. Industry voices counter that packaging plays an essential role in signposting flavours and helping adult smokers identify and stick with the products that support their quit journey.

Research also shows packaging influences risk perception. Many smokers already wrongly believe vaping is as harmful as – or more harmful than – smoking. Industry figures worry that drab, cigarette-style packs will reinforce that misperception, especially if accompanied by coded flavour labels that obscure what’s inside.

“If anything, vape packaging should provide more educational information on the harm reduction benefits of vaping versus conventional cigarettes for adult smokers,” argued UKVIA’s John Dunne.

Lessons from tobacco regulation

The push for plain packaging draws inspiration from tobacco control. Australia introduced standardised cigarette packs in 2012, followed by the UK in 2017. The measures are credited with reducing tobacco’s appeal among young people.

But e-cigarettes are not cigarettes. Unlike combustible tobacco, they are recognised by health authorities as reduced-risk products – a tool for quitting rather than a product to be eliminated. Applying the same logic to both has fuelled criticism that policymakers are blurring categories in ways that could backfire.

Few dispute the urgency of addressing youth vaping. The image of brightly packaged disposable vapes in the hands of schoolchildren has become a lightning rod for public concern. But as the evidence mounts, so too does the risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

A growing consensus within the sector suggests a middle path:

• Ban cartoon imagery and childlike branding – already part of the IBVTA’s Code of Conduct.
• Use accurate, descriptive flavour names rather than abstract or emotional ones.
• Ensure robust age verification at point of sale and, increasingly, point of use.
• Educate smokers and the public about the relative risks of vaping versus smoking.

These measures, advocates argue, would address youth appeal without stripping vapes of the appeal that draws smokers away from cigarettes.

A test of proportion

The plain packaging debate reveals a fundamental tension at the heart of UK tobacco control policy. On one side lies the goal of a “smoke-free generation”, with stricter regulation to curb youth uptake. On the other lies the imperative of harm reduction, ensuring smokers have viable alternatives.

As MPs and peers weigh the evidence, the question becomes one of proportion: how to design rules that protect children without pushing adults back towards cigarettes.

The stakes are high. With more than six million smokers still in the UK, the balance struck in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill could shape public health outcomes for years to come.