AN INDUSTRY expert has warned that vape companies are facing “no accountability” over their “dangerous” products.
Sheila Duffy, CEO of ASH Scotland, issued her warnings as Scotland marked 20 years of its smoking ban, which she says “saved lives”.
Despite positive developments in the two decades since the introduction of the smoke-free legislation, Sheila says that Scotland now faces “new challenges” in the form of the vape industry.
Exposure to second-hand smoke is down by 96% since March 2006, and it is reported that smoking rates have halved, with fewer deaths or hospital stays due to strokes or heart attacks.
Now though, easily accessible vapes has led to a youth vaping surge, with 2025 data showing 7.3% of 11–17-year-olds currently vape and nearly 20% have tried them.
Although youth vaping rates have stabilised after having an increasing spike between 2021-2023, around 40% of youth vapers still report daily usage.
Speaking to Deadline News, Sheila explained: “This legislation certainly saved lives.
“The Smoking, Health and Social Care Act (Scotland) 2005, achieved its purpose which was to protect people from an avoidable indoor pollutant.
“Figures showed a decline in heart attack admissions to Scottish hospitals, a decline in child asthma admissions and a decline in strokes.
“It was the Scottish Licence Trade Association, the pub trade representatives, that were arguing against it.
“They were being misinformed and scare-mongered by the tobacco industry – they thought it was going to put all the pubs in Scotland out of business.
“There was an initial decline in attendance to pubs but that recovered and pubs shifted from being wet-led pubs which were serving alcohol mostly to men, to being more family friendly pubs that were serving food and were welcoming families.
“They recovered, and that’s what we have seen internationally.”
Aside from protecting people from second-hand smoke, Sheila said this legislation also “increased the public’s awareness of the harmfulness” of this addiction.
Sheila said: “The younger generation have grown up with this normal experience of smoke-free public places.
“It protected people who didn’t even know they were at risk.
“It made a really strong statement that you don’t have to socialise in smoke-heavy environments.”
Sheila acknowledged that “change is inevitable and we have seen the benefits outweigh the negatives”.
Yet she warns that “new devices are creeping in” and that Scotland has “new challenges we need to address”, involving the rise of vapes and heated tobacco devices.
She explained: “Going back to when this legislation was first introduced, I had two very small children at the time, and I was really concerned about their future health.
“These companies absolutely aim these products at kids with the colours and flavours, drawing in far more young people for nicotine addiction.”
She added that these new addictive devices are “are bad news”, and that the new parliament “needs to get on top of them.”
On the 5 November 2024, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill was introduced by the Labour Government to create a “smoke-free generation” and curb youth vaping.
Hoping to “break the cycle of addiction”, this Bill will eradicate the “advertising and sponsorship of vapes and nicotine products” and “regulate the flavours, packaging, and display” steering way the appeal from minors.
Speaking on the Bill, Sheila said: “There is so much more that can be done.
“We don’t know what this is doing to people’s bodies. With tobacco, it took us 20-30 years to really see the whole picture.
“We have to absolutely nail this down through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.”
“It will shut down most of the worst advertising of these products.”
The Bill has now been cleared by the House of Lords and is in its final stages, aiming to create a smoke-free generation.
As of 1 January 2027, it will be illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.
Ms Duffy said that moving forward, she would like to see vapes sold in “plain packaging, out of sight, and with no promotional materials”.
She added that treating “tobacco and nicotine products as one category” would have a positive outcome for managing stricter conditions in the future.
Vape shops themselves are now facing intense scrutiny after a B-listed Victorian building in the heart of Glasgow was flattened by a fire starting inside a vape shop.
On Sunday 8 March 2026, Forsyth House next to the city’s Central Station was wrecked and soon after had to be demolished.
This incident has prompted broader debate regarding the high concentration of vape shops in Glasgow city centre.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is now conducting a “thematic audit” of approximately 36 vape shops across Glasgow.
This will focus on the storage and management of lithium-ion batteries that are used within vape products.
Sheila said: “We have seen from the recent fire in Glasgow how dangerous these products can be when they are damaged or when they are overheated.
“They cause damage to people’s lives and finances, and there is absolutely no accountability.
“These corporations are focused on profit and have no interest in the consumers or communities that they are selling into.”
She added: “We need to be holding these companies fiscally accountable for some of their health-harming products and the damage that they do.
“They are creating damage to people’s lives and finances and there is absolutely no accountability.”
