What is the Legal Age to Vape Around the World?

Vaping has become very popular in recent years, mostly as a healthier version of traditional smoking. In fact, Public Health England has found that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than smoking. As a result, they became promoted as an option for smokers that wish to quit traditional smoking. Moreover, selling, buying, and using vape pens and e-cigarettes has become legal in most countries in the world, with a number of exceptions.

Not only that vaping is proven safer than smoking but it has also become a modern man’s lifestyle choice. Therefore, you can easily find stores selling vaping gear around the world. Today, one can choose from a variety of products offered on the market. With a huge number of vaping devices, such as the most commonly chosen Suorin Air Pod, and e-liquids in numerous flavors available, vaping is gaining immense popularity.

Although vaping is a healthy option for smokers, there are some restrictions and regulations when it comes to user’s age. Moreover, taking into consideration that minors tend to start smoking and vaping out of curiosity, many countries have an official legal age for vaping to prevent minors indulge in such activities before they are old enough to make a mature decision.

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The USA

Vaping in the USA is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to their deeming rule from 2016, people under the age of 18 aren’t allowed to buy vapes. In fact, the tobacco-free devices and e-liquids were put in the same category as the regular tobacco products in terms of the age restriction.

However, different states have set a different legal age for vaping. Namely, in some states, 18 is the legal age, whereas in others is 21. Here’s a list of the legal age for some of the states.

• 21 – Arkansas, Connecticut, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Delaware, Maryland, Maine, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas, Oregon, Utah (19 until July 1, 2021), Washington ( January 1, 2020), Vermont, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territory Guam.
• 19 – Alaska, Alabama, Nebraska
• 18 – in the other states.

Europe

Most countries from the European Union have set 18 as the legal age for vaping. But, there are also some additional regulations when it comes to vaping. Namely, in the UK, you can buy vapes if you are 18 or older and you can vape in public areas. But you should check the law before vaping in this country because it’s included in the no-smoking policies. Also, there are very strict regulations in terms of producing e-cigarettes and e-liquids and their marketing.

Most of the EU countries have the same or similar restrictions for vaping as the UK. There are two exceptions in terms of the age, with Liechtenstein and Belgium setting 16 as their legal age. Additionally, two countries have prohibited vapes. Norway has completely banned all nicotine products and Turkey has banned e-cigarettes.

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Australia and New Zealand

Australia has a really strict law when it comes to vaping. Namely, you are not allowed to buy any vapes and e-liquids containing nicotine. This is due to its classification as a poison according to the National Poisons Standard. However, vaping for therapeutic purposes is allowed. But, it has to be registered by the TGA and you need to have a prescription from your doctor, in order to purchase it illegally.

Although nicotine is forbidden, nicotine-free e-cigarettes aren’t. You can buy them around the country and vape. The only restriction is that you have to be 18 years or older.

When it comes to New Zealand, it’s more open in terms of vaping regulations. Its rules are similar to those of the UK. Hence, selling and using vapes, including those containing nicotine, is legal.

What is the Legal Age for Nicotine-Free Vapes?

When we think about vapes that don’t contain nicotine, we assume that they can be consumed by older adolescents. But, that’s not the case. Actually, the law in the U.S. is the same for vapes that contain and those which don’t contain nicotine. It’s because the FDA considers nicotine-free e-liquids as a tobacco product. According to them, the nicotine-free e-liquids used in a tobacco product, which can also be used with nicotine-containing e-liquid, are a tobacco product, too.

That’s why the regulations are the same for nicotine-free and nicotine-containing vapes in the USA and most other countries. Hence, all e-liquids can be sold only to adults. If you want to know if nicotine-free products are legal for minors, you should check with the local lawmakers in your country.

As we can see, vaping is popular all around the world. While in some countries it’s legal to buy nicotine-containing and nicotine-free e-liquids and vapes, in others it’s rather restricted. Therefore, it’s a good idea to always consult the local authorities before you buy vapes or practice vaping in a foreign country or state.