Matchless E-cigarette blog

In years gone by, smoking was far more common in prisons than in the general population. For every person smoking outside, four people were smoking behind bars. However, 2017 saw a sea-change in this, as smoking was banned throughout all closed English and Welsh prisons. This was done because of continued complaints from non-smoking prisoners and staff, who were concerned about the effects of inhaling second-hand smoke.

So, it should come as no surprise to learn that vaping has increased. This has occurred following riots when the ban was implemented. Smokers were not happy; it was even suggested some were trying to make their own cigarettes using nicotine patches. Whatever the truth of that idea may be, the prison service in Wales decided to run a scheme where electronic cigarettes and refills were made available for prisoners to purchase. It is now estimated that around 33,000 prisoners have made the switch from smoking to vaping.

The trial was successful, leading to the scheme being expanded throughout other prisons throughout England and Wales. While prisons in Scotland have not yet banned smoking, they will do by the end of this year. In contrast to the ban in England and Wales, where vaping was only provided as an alternative following the riots, Scottish prisons will introduce vaping supplies from next month.

It would be interesting to see if the prisoners using vape supplies will continue to do so upon release, or whether they only switched because they had to. The riots show how difficult it is to quit smoking with no form of support. Vaping has been proven time and again to be the best option. It is a far safer method of getting that nicotine fix without being exposed to the dangers of cigarette smoke, tar, and other contaminants.

Prisoners are also understood to be offered support if they wish to quit smoking, with nicotine replacement therapy another option. With one estimate putting the percentage of smokers in UK jails at 80%, it seems a good idea to make vaping supplies easily available to prisoners. One report states around £65,000 a week is being spent on vaping supplies, so it seems to be working well.

What are your thoughts on vaping in prisons? Do you think allowing vaping has been a good move – and will prisoners continue to vape once they are released? Let us know in the comments.

If you vape in the UK, chances are you know what the law is, and you know where you can and cannot do it. However, it all changes when you go abroad. Vapers are being warned to look up vaping laws in other countries before they travel, as there is a real risk of being fined or jailed if you fall foul of those laws. Vaping may be welcome and legal in the UK, but it is a very different picture in some countries around the world.

For example, Thailand has put a blanket ban on vaping. If you do it out there and you’re caught, you could face up to 10 years in a Thai prison. Other countries including Malaysia, Egypt, Indonesia, Singapore, and even Australia have also banned vaping. In the latter, you’d need a prescription to vape legally. And remember, it is not a defence to say you weren’t aware of the law. It falls to you to abide by the law in any country you are visiting, regardless of whether you think the law is silly or not.

The US, Canada, and Turkey haven’t outright banned vaping, but they have restricted the use of electronic cigarettes. If you are travelling to those countries, check the current position before you go.

Another point to note is that you can be sent to prison just for being found with a vape kit on your person – even if you weren’t using it at the time. This is most likely in the Philippines and in India.

What are your thoughts on the bans on vaping in other countries? Would you risk taking a vape kit with you – even if you knew it meant you could risk a prison sentence? Let us know your thoughts below.

Most people who have had cause to visit hospitals will have seen people smoking outside. This seems an odd situation to have, especially since smoking is associated with so many serious health conditions.

But now, smoking on hospital grounds looks set to be banned in Wales. Many hospitals in Wales and the rest of the UK have already implemented such bans, but legislation in Wales looks set to make this illegal. At present, most hospitals enacting a ban do so based on their own decision-making. In some cases, however (and perhaps in many), the bans have proven to be hard to enforce with action. This has left defiant smokers deciding to smoke outside the entrances to hospital departments – something non-smokers are unhappy about, and for good reason.

Coming in summer 2019

The new legislation will officially make smoking on hospital grounds, whether by the entrance or elsewhere, against the law. As such, Wales will be ahead of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland in bringing such a ban into law. Welsh Health Secretary, Vaughan Gething, spoke of the “remarkable culture change” that has occurred in recent years. He also mentioned “overwhelming public support” for the change in legislation.

What about vapers?

Some are concerned that vaping might also come under the ban. However, the Act refers to tobacco products. Since electronic cigarettes do not contain tobacco, anyone who tries to vape would not be breaking the law.

With that said, no vaper can be certain they would be allowed to vape while on hospital grounds. As we mentioned above, the current stance is for individual hospitals to decide whether they should ban smoking and vaping. While the new legislation looks set to make the situation clear regarding smoking, the same will not apply to vaping.

That means checking the rules enforced at each individual hospital – and that applies across the UK, not just in Wales. While one hospital may allow both patients and visitors to vape on the grounds, another one a few miles away may have a ban in place.

So, while the law will make the ban on smoking clear from next year, the same cannot be said of vaping. It is hoped that many hospitals will allow it, since anyone looking to quit smoking may run into problems if staying in hospital for a few days for some reason. Being able to vape outside would be a big step in the right direction in making it easier for them to quit.

Indeed, some hospitals have permitted vaping in specific areas, including a couple in Suffolk and in Essex, England. In those cases, smoking rates have dropped sharply, indicating there is good cause for letting people vape where they can.

What are your thoughts on the forthcoming smoking ban on hospital grounds and in other public places in Wales? Do you think this is another step in the right direction to encourage more people to quit smoking and switch to vaping? Let us know in the comments section below.

Did you know 31st May marked this year’s World No Tobacco Day? Even though it has been and gone, this year was the 30th anniversary of the very first World No Tobacco Day originally introduced in 1988 by the World Health Organisation (WHO). It would seem to be an opportune moment to promote methods that have been proven to help smokers quit the habit. Yet WHO has continued to ignore the potential of vaping when focusing on its anti-smoking campaigns.

This year, the focus of the campaign was to highlight the link between smoking and heart disease. Since they are clearly so keen to support people in quitting smoking cigarettes and other tobacco-based products, it is odd they have ignored the one method that has arguably proven more successful than any other for doing this.

They are keen to provide help to those who wish to quit smoking, yet there is no mention anywhere of the possibility of switching to vaping. Yet many people have quit by doing just that.

Countries are relying on evidence to formulate their own approaches

This is perhaps the most sensible approach to take. Many countries have explored the evidence on smoking and electronic cigarettes when deciding whether to formally back vaping as a method for helping people quit smoking. Countries such as the UK, France, and the US have seen a major drop in the percentage of people who smoke since they began promoting e-cigarettes as a cessation method.

Yet the WHO is still hugely reluctant to even mention vaping in any of its materials on health and World No Tobacco Day. Despite the huge amount of research that has proven, time and again, that vaping is safer than smoking, they seem to have ignored it.

This is concerning given their focus on world health and on improving the health of the population in all countries. Moreover, we cannot see a change occurring anytime soon. Perhaps by the time World No Tobacco Day rolls around in 2019, they will have changed their stance.

What do you think about the views of the WHO? Do you think they should be supporting the switch to vaping in the hope of reducing smoking rates even further? The stats prove smoking rates drop by considerable amounts when countries support the use of vaping. How long do you think it will be before the WHO catches on?

Chances are you haven’t read the European Respiratory Journal. If you had, you would be aware that both doctors and scientists are pushing for flavoured e-liquids to be banned. They have warned that flavourings are one of several ways e-cigarette manufacturers are promoting the appeal of their products to young people.

They went on to argue that vaping provides an easy pathway through to smoking for young people. While many studies have shown that vaping is a successful way to quit smoking for many, evidence is thin on the ground when trying to prove young people may start vaping and then switch to smoking later.

Could we see a ban on flavourings?

However, this has not prevented those who produced the report from calling for an instant ban on flavoured e-liquids for use with electronic cigarettes. With flavours including bubblegum available, their idea is that they are promoted to try and attract younger people to start vaping. They claim vaping is ‘normalising’ smoking.

Vaping is certainly much safer than smoking, thanks to the removal of tobacco, which is known to be harmful in many ways. The worry among the experts behind the report is that young people will try vaping and become hooked on the nicotine in the e-liquids. Making those liquids in a range of appealing flavours, they suggest, may hook youngsters who would not otherwise have touched nicotine or smoked a cigarette.

What are your thoughts on this view?

Many people use vaping as a method for quitting smoking. Many have tried and failed in using other methods, while succeeding by switching to vaping. Yet this report suggests there could be dangers for those who haven’t yet smoked.

Do you agree with this? Would you be happy to see a ban on flavoured e-liquids? Let us know your opinion below.

Hawaiian vapers are on the verge of being penalised by a dramatic change to the law on the sale of e-liquids. The innocuous-sounding Bill SB2654 relates to the proposed addition of 70% in tax the state is intending to charge on the sale of e-liquids. The bill is designed to make shipping tobacco products to those outside the industry illegal. If you sell tobacco, you can sell vaping products. If you don’t, you’re out of the running.

This same bill is set to lump e-liquids in the same category as other tobacco products… even though e-liquids do not contain any tobacco. The bill is designed to make it illegal for anyone to sell these liquids to private buyers. Vaping businesses are already concerned that if the bill goes through, it will mean the beginning of the end for them.

Despite the fact numerous pieces of research confirm vaping is a far healthier alternative to smoking, some lawmakers seem hellbent on outlawing the option. In a time when governments everywhere are increasingly looking for ways to cut deaths from smoking, banning sales of vaping products is a strange approach. It is essentially throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Vaping provides a healthier solution to help people quit smoking, and yet there is little evidence those in charge are listening to the evidence.

Hawaiians are being urged to contact Representative John Mizuno directly to raise their concerns. The sooner this is done the better, if there is any chance of this proposed law being overridden and withdrawn.

What are your thoughts on the potential ban of sales of e-liquids to private individuals? Are you surprised at the decision, or that the law is close to going ahead? Let us know your opinion below.

9th May was a notable date in the vaping industry calendar. That was the date the Chair of the Independent British Vape Trade Association (otherwise known as IBVTA), Fraser Cropper, was invited to attend the Science and Technology Committee in the House of Commons. The committee is conducting an inquiry into e-cigarettes, and until that point no one representing the vaping industry had received an invitation to attend.

Mr Cropper gave evidence to the committee along with fellow witnesses, the director of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), John Dunne, and chair of the New Nicotine Alliance (NNA), Sarah Jakes.

Could we see changes to the Tobacco Products Directive?

While all three gave their own evidence to the inquiry, they agreed the current Tobacco Products Directive created by the European Union should be altered once the Brexit process has been completed. Mr Cropper spoke of the potential of vaping as a method for reducing the instances of smoking in the UK. The current regulations had not been based on a risk assessment and have been viewed by many as too heavy-handed for purpose. Mr Cropper hopes that after Britain has left the EU, we can have “much more balanced regulation”.

Could excise duty be charged on e-cigarettes?

This was one of the questions to arise during the session. The three representatives in attendance all agreed this was not a good idea. Many people see vaping not just as a healthier alternative to smoking, but a far cheaper one too. If that cost benefit was removed, there is a chance fewer smokers would consider making the switch.

Limited advertising

It is currently almost impossible to promote vaping products to the public, since there are strict regulations on advertising. However, all three who spoke at the committee meeting criticised this approach. It seems odd that health bodies and organisations are supportive of vaping as a safe alternative to smoking, and yet this solution cannot be advertised. It sends a mixed message and Mr Dunne blamed this approach on the incorrect perception many people have of the safety of vaping.

It remains to be seen how the inquiry is resolved and what its conclusions will be. We hope the vaping industry can continue along a positive path, so it can help those who want to give up smoking. The advent of Brexit could bring a sea change and if it does, it could be a positive one for all.

Smoking rates have dropped sharply in the UK over the past few years. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last year confirmed 19% of young adults now smoke, a sharp drop from 26% seen just six years previously. Public Health England has already given its approval to e-cigarettes as a valid smoking cessation tool, and the prospect of vaping being offered on prescription is still floating around as well.

NICE decision on vaping

Now, NICE – the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence – has come out in support of electronic cigarettes as a good solution for those wanting to quit smoking. They have issued new guidance for those working in the health and social care sectors who may encounter smokers who wish to quit, or who are using e-cigarettes already.

“Less harmful”

Perhaps the most appealing part of the guidance is this: “The committee considered it likely that they (e-cigarettes) are substantially less harmful than smoking.” They cautioned that vaping is “not risk free” and mentioned that the long-term impact of vaping is still developing, both for short-term and long-term vapers. However, the message is clear – electronic cigarettes are increasingly being recommended as a healthier alternative to smoking by many recognised bodies and health organisations.

Statement from Deputy Chief Executive at NICE

Professor Gillian Leng is the Deputy Chief Executive and the director of Health and Social Care at NICE. She said it was “imperative that we give people the support and advice they need to quit [smoking].”

She also reiterated their belief that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than normal tobacco cigarettes. The recognition that many people try vaping to help them stop smoking is clearly there, and it is reassuring that the UK seems to be ahead of many countries in this respect. Several governments elsewhere seem intent on categorising vaping with cigarettes, which is counter-productive and doing nothing to help smokers quit.

5.6% of people in the UK used e-cigarettes in 2016

That statistic comes from the ONS and seems to indicate more people are switching to vaping to help them quit cigarette smoking. The chief executive of Public Health England, Duncan Selbie, said last year that almost 50% of all adults were smokers in 1974. That figure has dropped hugely to just 15.8% of all adults in 2016.

Vaping has only been around for a fraction of that time, but the encouragement given by PHE and now NICE will surely persuade many more smokers to give up with the help of e-cigarettes. It is hard to imagine a time when no one smokes, but the sharp decline in smokers since the Seventies cannot be denied. Furthermore, with vaping now available as a practical and workable tool to help people quit, we expect that figure to drop still further.

What are your thoughts on the latest input from NICE? Are you pleased the health bodies and organisations in the UK are supporting vaping as a tool to help quit smoking? Let us know in the comments below.