Adult current and former nicotine users' and adolescents' views on vape-free places: findings from UK cross-sectional surveys

Technical Summary: Adult and Adolescent Views on Vape-Free Places in the UK

Problem Statement
The United Kingdom's Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 grants the government powers to ban vaping in public places, including extending indoor smoke-free legislation to vape-free zones and prohibiting vaping in outdoor areas of education settings and children's playgrounds. While there is a robust international evidence base regarding public support for smoke-free policies, there is a significant gap in understanding public attitudes toward vape-free places, particularly within the UK population. Existing literature is largely limited to US and Australian studies, often showing that current users of nicotine products are less supportive of such bans than non-users. Furthermore, little is known about the perceived feasibility (compliance) of these bans or the specific views of adolescents, a demographic central to the legislation's goals of reducing youth uptake.

Methodology
The study employed two UK-wide cross-sectional online surveys conducted in 2026, utilizing YouGov panels for recruitment.

• Participants:
  • Adults: 2,851 current and former nicotine users (smokers and/or vapers). This specific demographic was targeted to understand the views of those most directly affected by the proposed policies.
  • Adolescents: 2,123 individuals aged 11–17 years.
• Data Collection: Surveys were administered between April and June 2026. Informed consent was obtained, including parental consent for minors aged 11–15.
• Measures: The survey instruments, developed through public involvement groups and cognitive interviews, assessed three primary domains across six specific locations (open-air playparks, public transport, hospital entrances, nightclubs, pubs, and school grounds):
  1. Perceived Acceptability: A 5-point Likert scale (1 = very acceptable to 5 = very unacceptable).
  2. Policy Views: Whether vaping "should" or "should not" be allowed in these locations.
  3. Perceived Compliance: The likelihood that people would obey a ban in these locations.
• Analysis: Descriptive statistics were weighted for the adolescent sample to represent the UK population. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between outcomes and variables including current vaping/smoking status, gender, age, social grade, and country.

Key Contributions and Results
The study provides the first UK-specific data on public views regarding indoor and outdoor vape-free places among current and former nicotine users and adolescents.

• Acceptability and Policy Support:
  • High Consensus: Both adults and adolescents overwhelmingly viewed vaping as unacceptable and believed it should be banned on public transport (Adults: 85.9% unacceptable; Adolescents: 91.2%) and school grounds (Adults: 83.6% unacceptable; Adolescents: 90.5%).
  • Moderate Support: A majority viewed vaping as unacceptable in pubs (Adults: 57.8%), nightclubs (Adults: 52.5%), and hospital entrances (Adults: 59.2%).
  • Low Support: Support for bans was lowest for open-air playparks. Only 40.6% of adults found vaping there unacceptable, and a plurality (49.4%) believed it should be allowed. Adolescents were more opposed to vaping in playparks (63.4% unacceptable) than adults, but still less so than in other locations.
• Behavioral Correlates:
  • Current nicotine users (smokers and vapers) were significantly more likely than non-users to perceive vaping as acceptable and to believe it should be allowed in all locations.
  • Gender: Females were consistently less likely than males to find vaping acceptable or to support allowing it in public spaces.
  • Age: Among adults, older age groups were generally less likely to find vaping acceptable in pubs and nightclubs. Among adolescents, older participants were more likely to doubt compliance with bans.
• Perceived Compliance:
  • Both groups perceived high likelihood of compliance for bans on public transport, school grounds, and in pubs.
  • Compliance was perceived as low for nightclubs, hospital entrances, and open-air playparks.
  • Current nicotine users were less likely to doubt compliance in playparks and school grounds compared to non-users, while older adolescents were more likely to doubt compliance across all locations.

Significance and Claims
The paper claims that its findings offer a timely, pragmatic snapshot of public opinion to assist UK policymakers in implementing the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026. The authors assert that:

1. Targeted Communication is Necessary: While there is strong support for bans in transport and schools, there is mixed support and low perceived compliance for bans in nightclubs, hospital entrances, and playparks. Policymakers may need to focus communication strategies on these specific areas to improve acceptability and convince the public of the practical feasibility of such bans.
2. Stakeholder Engagement: The study highlights that those most affected by the policy (current users) are more skeptical. The authors suggest that helping these groups understand the rationale behind the proposals could improve implementation and enforcement, drawing parallels to the self-enforcing nature of indoor smoking bans once established.
3. Limitations: The authors modestly note that the adult sample was not representative of the general population (focusing only on users), which may mean general population support is even higher. They also acknowledge limitations regarding non-probability sampling, potential social desirability bias, and the hypothetical nature of compliance questions.

In conclusion, the study indicates that while the UK public (specifically nicotine users and adolescents) supports vape-free policies in high-traffic and youth-centric areas like transport and schools, significant work remains to build consensus and confidence in the enforceability of bans in leisure and healthcare outdoor settings.