From 29 October no Brighton shop may sell any vape or nicotine pouch to under-18s. Free samples, big discounts and vape vending machines are banned too.

From today, Thursday 29 October, it is illegal for any shop in Brighton & Hove to sell a vape or a nicotine product to anyone under 18. That now includes nicotine-free vapes and nicotine pouches, which had no age limit in England until now.

The change is the first stage of the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026. Three other rules start on the same day. They are set out in the government’s guidance for retailers, published on 11 August.

What changes today

  • Age of sale: no sale of any vaping product or nicotine product to under-18s, in shops or online. Before today the limit in England covered only vapes containing nicotine.
  • Proxy buying: an adult who buys, or tries to buy, a vape or nicotine product for someone under 18 commits an offence.
  • Free samples and big discounts: giving away a vape, a nicotine product or a coupon for one, or selling them at a “substantial discount”, is an offence where the purpose or effect is to promote the product.
  • Vending machines: no premises may have a machine that sells tobacco, vapes, nicotine products, herbal smoking products or cigarette papers. The vending machine guidance says tobacco machines were already banned. The new ban adds the rest.

The guidance lists what counts as a nicotine product. It includes nicotine pouches, gums, lozenges and “nicotine pearls”, and synthetic nicotine as well as nicotine from plants. Medicines and medical devices, such as licensed nicotine replacement products, are outside it.

Disposable e-cigarettes, cartridge and tank vapes, and common chargers laid out side by side.
Disposable and rechargeable vapes, all now covered by the 18 age limit whether or not they contain nicotine. Photo: US Food and Drug Administration (public domain)

The penalties

Trading standards can issue a fixed penalty notice of £200 in England for selling to someone under 18, for a proxy purchase, or for a giveaway or deep discount. That is set out in the retailer guidance and the separate fixed penalty guidance.

On conviction, the maximum fine is level 4 on the standard scale, currently £2,500. A shop has a defence if it can prove it took “all reasonable steps” to avoid the offence. Customers “should expect to show ID” if asked.

Free vape kits from the stop smoking service

Brighton & Hove City Council’s Healthy Lifestyles Team gives smokers free vape starter kits to help them quit, as we reported yesterday. The ban on giveaways carries a defence for this kind of scheme.

The guidance says it covers a retailer with “a formal contract with a public authority, such as a local stop smoking service”, handing out vapes or coupons to service users within that agreement.

What comes next

The bigger change is on 1 January 2027. From then no shop may sell tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009, for life. The council’s trading standards team began a 100-day round of advisory visits to shops in September, before it starts enforcing. Our earlier story has the detail and the council’s local figures.

What it means for you

  • If you are under 18: no shop can sell you a vape, including a nicotine-free one, or nicotine pouches. Buying is not the offence; selling to you is.
  • If you are a parent or an older sibling: buying a vape or pouches for someone under 18 is now an offence for you, with a £200 fixed penalty.
  • If you run a shop: check that your till prompts cover every vape and nicotine product, not just nicotine vapes. Remove any vending machine stocking these products, and stop free samples and promotional discounts. The council’s trading standards team takes questions at trading.standards@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
  • If you are trying to quit smoking: the free vape kits from the city’s stop smoking service are still available.
  • If you see a shop selling to children: the guidance says to report it to your local trading standards office, which for Brighton and Hove is the city council.

Sources