From 1 October, those who vape will finally be paying tax on their noxious habit and, in the opinion of this publication, it’s long overdue.

Now a £2.20 excise duty applies to every 10ml of vaping liquid made in or imported into the UK, nicotine or not. Products that look cheap, casual and harmless should carry a price reflecting the damage they encourage.

Let us be clear. Vaping may be less harmful than smoking and can help adults quit tobacco. That does not make it harmless. It is not risk-free, and children and non-smokers should never use it. Vapes should be an exit from cigarettes, not a lifestyle product. Even then, the jury is out.

Quite frankly, those who vape seem to think it’s socially acceptable to blow their cheery-gum or apple-cinnamon smoke in public places. Consideration is out the window, just as vapers and smokers should be condemned to outside.

According to recent figures, fewer children are now vaping. Good. The fewer the better. And we can wish that those who do insist on vaping consider the rights and lungs off all who don’t.

This new duty supplies deterrence and accountability - and that’s welcome news. Newly manufactured or imported products must carry a duty stamp, and from 1 April 2027 every vaping product sold or supplied in the UK must display one.

The duty is expected to raise more than £550 million a year by 2030-31. This added revenue is welcome - but who knows what long-term damage vapers are doing to their lungs and respiratory system from inhaling their cocktail of vapourised chemical compounds.

Success means fewer children vaping and a lasting decline across Wales. Adults must be helped off tobacco without another generation becoming dependent on vapes.

Tax alone will not end this. We must challenge the fiction that vaping is benign. Higher prices, tighter controls and strict enforcement send the necessary message: vaping is not harmless, and children must never use it.

Better still, stop vaping. Let’s make it as socially unacceptable as nicotine products are. We all have a right to fresh, clean air. Inside or outside. Vapers, take note.