We’ve read and heard plenty in recent months regarding the various limitations on e-cigarette smoking. Since 1st October last year, no one under the age of 18 has been legally able to buy electronic cigarettes, nor any e-liquids to go with them. But has this really been a good thing? Does it detract young people from smoking, or has it merely removed the ability to switch to e-cigs if they have already started smoking?
According to statistics, around 2.6 million adults in the UK vape. Clearly the idea is to deter people under the age of 18 from joining that number. However, study after study has found that vaping is far safer than smoking. Moreover, other studies have found that placing any kind of ban on vaping actually seems to encourage young people to smoke instead.
So what’s the deal here?
The idea behind an underage ban on vaping is obviously to discourage young people from making a switch from vaping to smoking. But again, it is almost unheard of for someone to start vaping when they have never smoked previously, and for them to move on from vaping to smoking. So why make this law in the first place?
One particular analysis undertaken by Abigail Friedman from Yale indicates that banning e-cig sales to minors has the opposite effect to the one policymakers would hope for. Instead of reducing smoking in kids aged between 12 and 17, it actually increases it by 0.9%. That may not sound like much, but since the ban is in place to help reduce young people smoking, that increase would seem to be significant.
Furthermore, it’s interesting than in the US, not all states have banned underage e-cig sales. The states that have banned it are the ones that have seen the rise in smoking. The bans are certainly achieving something, but it’s not the results anyone would have wanted.
Banning advertising of e-cigarettes could have a similar effect
Advertising cigarettes has been illegal in the UK for many years now. The Tobacco Products Directive is set to come into force in May 2016, and when it does, it will encompass the advertising of e-cigarettes too.
One study conducted by Anna Tuchman at Stanford University found that when e-cigarettes aren’t advertised, “demand for traditional cigarettes would increase.” This may not be the case if people were aware that e-cigs were a valid and preferable alternative.
Unintended consequences
Obviously there are some people who believe the world would be a better place without tobacco products and also without e-cigarettes. But let’s be clear here – e-cigarettes have proven to be a Godsend for plenty of people who want to give up smoking. You’d be hard-pushed to find anyone who has taken up vaping who has never previously touched a cigarette. Why would you? That’s not what these things are for. The idea is to provide smokers with an alternative that is better for them, and helps wean them off smoking. There are several ways you can get assistance in stopping smoking, but for many, e-cigarettes are fast becoming the preferred method.
We don’t like to think of underage kids smoking, but in reality, we’ve all seen them do it. If they cannot have access to get e-cigarettes legally, they don’t have an alternative that could help them stop smoking. Surely that isn’t what is wanted? By banning vaping and making it more difficult to do, it demonises it in a way that could hurt those who would ultimately use it to help them quit smoking. And surely that is the biggest demon of all?
