Britain’s burgeoning vaping industry is warning of a rise in homemade versions of the liquids used in the devices as new laws governing their strength take effect this weekend.Vape shops warn that the health of consumers will be put at risk because people will end up buying stronger products from the black market or the internet that do not meet safety standards.There are also concerns that thousands of vapers who use high levels of nicotine will end up reverting to cigarettes now they can no longer buy sufficiently high doses under the new rules.The Tobacco Products Directive, which came into force on Saturday, is most widely known for prohibiting the selling of cigarettes in branded packs.But it also makes a number of demands on vaping companies and retailers.The new rules include restrictions on the size of the e-cigarette tanks and refill containers that vapers can use.From Saturday UK vapers can buy devices that have tanks with a maximum size of 2ml – far smaller than most on the market – which means they will have to refill more frequently.

They will also be able to buy only small bottles of e-liquids, meaning they will have to carry several around with them during the day.“If you are continuing to have to refill, it’s annoying that you now have to carry more stuff with you,” said Richard Hyslop, chief executive of the Independent British Vape Trade Association, which represents about half of the UK’s 1,700 vaping shops.“From a public health point of view, vaping succeeds or fails on the number of smokers who switch to it,” he said.“If you’re looking at vaping compared to smoking, with smoking you just take a cigarette out of the packet and light it.With vaping you’ve got to have all this kit and keep refilling because the tank’s so small and the bottle size is so much smaller.“There’s already an informal economy in cloned devices and poor-quality stuff.Now people wanting to buy devices with bigger tanks or liquid in a bottle that’s bigger than 10ml won’t be able to buy it legitimately in the UK but will be able to go to grey or informal areas and buy it.” Around 6% of Britain’s 2.9 million vapers are using e-liquids that contain more than 20mg of nicotine per ml and which are now also banned.

Faced with restrictions on nicotine strength, Hyslop predicted the UK’s vapers would consider a number of options including buying e-liquids in bulk off the internet and looking to dilute it.e cigarette joinville le pont“Those customers who need a high-strength product will either look to make it themselves, go back to smoking or seek out the informal [black market] economy which is not tested.” Public Health England recently produced a report suggesting vaping was 95% less harmful than smoking.e cigarette lucky boyBut vaping’s success in weaning heavy smokers off cigarettes was now in jeopardy, Hyslop said.e cigarette lounge“Many vapers start on a high level and go down the nicotine strength and end up on zero but heavy smokers now will struggle to make the switch.” Vape shops claim a rush to regulation could end up stifling the industry, which is less than 10 years old.e cigarette munchen

Hyslop drew comparisons with Italy, which introduced punitive taxes and saw its domestic market collapse.e cigarette northamptonBut France has placed no restrictions on tank size.e cigarette muzillacShayne Adams, managing director of the Flavour Vapour chain of shops, predicted that some retailers would go out of business.“These shops are private-sector stop-smoking centres and many will be forced to close due to this financial hammer blow,” he said.On Friday the New Nicotine Alliance, led by Professor Gerry Stimson, a public health expert, protested against the new measures outside the Department of Health.“Vaping has helped 1.5 million give up smoking,” Stimson said.“This extraordinary success is put at risk by rules that make vaping less attractive to Britain’s 9 million current smokers.”Vapers will not escape a raft of new tobacco laws coming into force later this month.

Traditional smokers will be faced with fresh legislation which will ban packs of 10 cigarettes, begin a phasing out of menthol brands and see even more graphic packaging.Fans of e-cigs may think they won’t be affected.But think again - because vapers WILL be hit by a different part of the Tobacco Products Directive which comes into force on May 20.Here is all you need to know about what the new laws say, as reported by Chronicle Live .Vaping will not be banned but some accuse the Government of doing all they can to discourage the habit without banning it outright.That means hitting people where it hurts with new restrictions on the strength of liquids and limiting the size of tanks.The new laws have been described as draconian and have been accused of hitting people trying to wean themselves off cigarettes .Restrict e-cigarette tanks to a capacity of no more than 2ml.Restrict the maximum volume of e-liquid for sale in one refill container to 10ml.Restrict e-liquids to a nicotine strength of no more than 20mg/ml.

Require nicotine-containing products or their packaging to be child-resistant and tamper evident.Ban certain ingredients including colourings, caffeine and taurine.Include new labelling requirements and warnings.Require e-cigarettes and e-liquids be notified to heath regulators before they can be sold.Weaker strength and smaller tanks are just the start of it.Manufacturers are concerned about the need to tell the regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, about new products coming onto the market.They see it as an erosion of the freedom vapers have had until now.They point out that a lot of what is now law is already carried out on a voluntary basis by reputable dealers and manufacturers.It is argued that the cost of complying with the new laws will be passed on to vapers.That’s what the industry fears.They warn to expect a reduction in choice of significant proportions.Manufacturers have had a year to get used to the idea but many say users are still unaware and there are some vapers on the streets who will not have a clue why their vapes are weaker and smaller on May 20.

The advice is to stock up before their favourite vapes are taken off the market.Many will be selling their old stock right up until the moment it becomes illegal.Some won’t get the same kind of strength they are used to so the expectation is that they will simply buy more of it to get the same kick.Some companies are selling compliance kits so vapers can check if what they are using passes all the regulations.But chatter on social media sites suggests that at least some vapers with the know-how are planning to make their own-e-juice.Others claim they will buy from abroad on the internet and a few suggest the industry, or at the least part of it opposed to what is happening, will go underground.Old stocks can be sold up to the end of May 19th but must be taken off the shelves after that.This is what the regulator says must happen on and after May 20th.Their advice to retailers is to check with them if the products they sell have been approved.It is up to producers to make sure they have complied with the rules to get permission to sell on to the retailer.