vaping

Will England follow Wales and ban Vaping in Public Places ?

June 18, 2015

Thankfully the latest news indicates that England will not be following suit and making E-cigarettes illegal.

The latest reporting by licensed industry experts by Publicans Morning Advertiser indicates this will not be the case.

They note that The Department of Health has confirmed to them that England would not follow on from the Welsh Government and pursue a potential ban on Vaping in Public places.

Is this a rare case of a Government taking a balanced and sensible approach to legislation in respect of Vaping? we at Matchless can only hope so and perhaps hope the same common sense approach is eventually adopted by the Welsh Government.

All within the Vaping community are a little flabbergasted by the approach and logic of the Welsh Government and neutral observers on the whole replicate that feeling, best emphasised by The Daily Telegraph comment “The Welsh ban on Vaping indoors makes no sense”

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), a charity that working to reduce and stop the damage caused by tobacco has also said it did not support the sort of ban proposed by the Welsh government.

The Welsh government’s argument is totally specious and runs along the lines – Vaping looks like smoking – we know smoking is bad – so Vaping must be bad – so let’s ban Vaping with no reference to fact or study.

You thus have law proposed and potentially implemented on ignorance and inaccurate supposition.

This leaves one in the rather bizarre position of mentally congratulating the “English” Government” for not being as totally illogical as the Welsh one.

I am sure the Welsh (and the Scottish) will point to many advantages of Devolution – I just wonder how many Welsh Vapers will rue this particular piece of legislation – if indeed it goes ahead.

If you happen to be a Welsh Vaper – perhaps you would like to make representation to your local Welsh Assembly Member and mention your disquiet at this potential piece of legislation.

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By admin

Quit Smoking by Vaping more

April 22, 2015

Have you been trying to quit smoking? There have been many techniques and products available to assist smokers in their determibned effort to kick the habit, some more effective than others. Now, the new trend of vaping has been shown by studies to be an effective method in helping smokers quit or cut down on their daily tobacco comsumption.

Recent studies have shown that vapers using tank type e-cigarettes are more likely to quit smoking cigarettes.
Tank e-cigarettes can be refilled with e-liquids as opposed to the original e-cigarettes (imitation type cigarettes) that also use cartridges.
The study showed that daily use with Tanks are more likely to help smokers quit. The more you vaped with tanks the more likely you will quit smoking rather than trying to quit with infrequent vaping.

The study conducted by Ann McNeill, a professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London concluded that for those wanting to quit smoking use e-cigarettes more frequently and actively try to stop smoking.

There were two studies done on around 1500 smokers in Britain in December 2012 and the subjects of the study were followed up one year later in 2013.

The first study found that of those who vaped daily with e-cigarettes 65% tried to quit smoking the following year whereas only 44% tried to quit that did not vape. Further, of the daily vapers 14% had cut down on their consumption of tobacco by at least 50% and of the non vapers it was a mere 6%.

The second study of 587 people using e-cigarettes, after a year, 24% of them used the tank models. Of The tank model vapers almost 1/3 had quit smoking. Of the e-cigarette vapers only 1/8 had managed to quit.

It is hard to draw a hard conclusion why Tanks perform better than e-cigarettes.  It could be that they are more economical than e-cigarettes and/or that the refillable nature means more control on choice and nicotine strength.

Linda Bauld, a professor of health policy at the University of Stirling added that the studies contributed to the growing literature on e-cigarettes. She concluded that what we do know is: the type of device, the frequency of use and how much nicotine it contains all contribute to quitting smoking.

Martin McKee, a professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, added that it appears vaping can seriously change the tobacco industry, however a precautionary approach by all health authorities is still justifed.

quit smoking – infographic

Checkout the infographic below which shows the findings of the study, illustrating the effectiveness of vaping to quit smoking and how e-cigs compare to tanks:

infographic showing effectiveness of ecigs vs tanks when quitting smoking

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By steffanr

Country by Country Status on Vaping

March 19, 2015

A Global Legal Status

Please check if this article written in March 2015 is still current and valid before quoting us.

We have written a consensus country by country on vaping. We simplified it into three categories banned, permitted and unclear (which includes partial).

Electronic cigarettes, e-cigarettes, e-cigs and vaping are products sold as a smoking substitute. They don’t fall into the category of tobacco products or pharmaceutical products or even as a cessation product. Currently uncategorised they can be described as a product intended to deliver nicotine and or with flavour which can also be used as an alternative to smoking tobacco.
Pharmaceutical licenses are MA (Market Authorisation) to sell a product as a licensed medicinal product and to date no e-cigarette has such a license.

In some cases countries ban the commercial import but not the personal import of e-cigarettes and hence deliveries through the mail system are not affected.

Where is vaping banned? A Country by Country Status on Vaping

ARGENTINA – Banned.
AUSTRIA – Banned.
BRAZIL – Banned.
BRUNEI – Banned.
COLOMBIA – Banned.
INDONESIA – Banned.
JORDAN – Banned.
MALAYSIA – Banned.
MEXICO – Banned.
OMAN – Banned.
PANAMA – Banned.
SINGAPORE – Banned.
THAILAND – Banned.
TURKEY – Banned.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, UAE, including Dubai – Banned.
URUGUAY – Banned.
VENEZUELA – Banned.

Country by Country Status on Vaping : where it is permitted?

CHINA – Permitted; but may vary by region.
CZECH REPUBLIC – Permitted.
ESTONIA: Permitted
GERMANY – Permitted.
ISRAEL – Permitted.
ITALY – Permitted.
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF – Permitted.
LATVIA – Permitted.
MALTA – Permitted.
NETHERLANDS – Permitted.
POLAND – Permitted.
RUSSIA – Permitted.
TAJIKISTAN – Permitted.
UKRAINE – Permitted.
UNITED KINGDOM – Permitted.
UNITED STATES, USA – Permitted; but may vary by region.

Country by Country Status on Vaping : where it’s partial or unclear

AUSTRALIA – Partial permission. Permitted, if without nicotine.
BELGIUM – Partial permission. Permitted, if without nicotine.
CANADA – Partial permission. Permitted, if without nicotine.
DENMARK – Partial permission. Permitted, if without nicotine.
FRANCE – Partial permission.

E-Cigarettes and nicotine liquid are considered to be consumer goods regulated by general product safety regulations, unless they meet the criteria for medical licensing: if they claim to be for smoking cessation; or if the amount of nicotine in the cartridge is greater than or equal to 10 mg; or if the nicotine strength in a refill is more than or equal to 20mg/ml.
http://www.afssaps.fr/Infos-de-securite/Communiques-Points-presse/L-Afss…
 

FINLAND – Partial permission. Nicotine-free liquids and e-cigarette devices can both be sold in Finland.
GREECE – Unclear.
HONG KONG – Partial permission. E-cigarettes containing nicotine are classified as licensable poison products and prohibited.
IRAN – Unclear.
JAPAN – Partial permission. E-cigarettes with nicotine are banned because they are classed as unlicensed medical products.
MAURITIUS – Unclear.
NEW ZEALAND – Partial permission. Zero-nicotine products are permitted.
NORWAY – Partial Ban. The Norwegian Tobacco Act forbids the sale of new tobacco products and/or nicotine products, a classification that they claim encompasses ecig products. Imports from EU countries are generally accepted.
SOUTH AFRICA – Unclear.
SWEDEN – Partial permission. E-cigarettes and nicotine-free cartridges may be sold, but nicotine-containing refills are prohibited.
SWITZERLAND – Partial permission. Zero-nicotine products are permitted.

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By steffanr
More Posts

The Guardian on vaping

March 3, 2015

Vaping is not proven  to be healthy however they’re not as harmful or dangerous as tobacco reports The Guardian on 23rd February 2015.

A report by Linda Bauld , Professor of Health Policy at the University of Stirling and Deputy Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, was published by The Guardian on vaping. 
“There is no proof to date that vaping is as dangerous as tobacco. This is one of the underlying facts.”
Smoking tobacco will shorten lives by on average 10 years, further, secondary smoke particles exhaled contain tar particles and some toxic gases that can affect those in the near vacinity.
It has been acknowledged by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and the Medicines Healthcare Regulatory Association that e-cigarettes are safer than continued tobacco smoking. This is a fact and one that is supported by tobacco control organisations in the UK. To state otherwise is false.
The Guardian on vaping continued with :
“This does not mean e-cigarettes are risk free, but few things are. What it does mean is that their use is safer than continued smoking.”

Is Liquid Nicotine safe?

Liquid nicotine comes from the same tobacco leaf and the main danger today is if the packaging is not child safe. However let us not forget that there are many poisons in our everyday household products.

The Guardian on vaping continued with some interesting fact from US:  there were 2.6 million calls to poison control centres in 2013 and 0.06% of these related to nicotine products including e-liquids.  We do agree that these e-liquids need to be safely packaged and clearly labelled, and users need to keep these products away from children.

Should it be banned in public places?

One fact to consider here is that vaping vapour is not the same as second hand smoke. It is not smoke, it is vapour and there is no good evidence that exposure is harmful to bystanders (particularly outside, as in NHS grounds). Let us not state otherwise.
We believe it is not long before an electronic cigarette (or equivalent)  will be licensed as a cessation device- then such public bans will be unworkable.
What we don’t want now is to discourage smokers from trying a device that could stop them from smoking….reports The Guardian on vaping in their February 23rd article.
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By steffanr

The Spectator on vaping

February 20, 2015

Very interesting and well written piece of news for our industry from the Spectator on vaping. The Spectator debates the challenges faced by e-cigs, vaping and other innovative ways of delivering nicotine without the dangers of burning tobacco. Some interesting statistics also reveal how the popular Swedish ‘snus’ which provides an alternative to burning tobacco has lowered the death rate of men in Sweden to the lowest in Europe. Despite the health benefits of snus compared to Tobacco most of Europe has made the use of snus illegal. The Spectator takes a look at the Swedish phenomena in relation to the current debate on e-cigs and vaping.

E-Cig users and vapers will find the article well worth reading and the facts presented in the article would be useful in educating general opinion on e-cigs and vaping:

Read: E-Cigarettes Saves Live

And check out the video they posted in their article: youtube clip

The Spectator on Vaping – The bottom line

The bottom line for the Spectator on vaping is that Tobacco kills and Nicotine does not. The article has done well to strengthen their position on the health benefits of e-cigs with numerous facts and figures.

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By steffanr

Politics of e-cigarettes

February 10, 2015

In the last week we have seen further discussions on e-cigarettes, in this blog we refer to the politics of e-cigarettes for many reasons.  It first started with the study of mice that was published in various newspapers and online forums.

Interesting to read the BBC news feed which stated that “In experiments on mice, scientists found that e-cigarette vapour could harm the lungs and make them more susceptible to respiratory infections.”

The word that must be stressed here is could, similar to ‘maybe’, which means that it is not a fact. On the daily feed from vaping news the story evolved into facts.The screen shot

Politics of e-cigarettes the recent headlines shows how it transformed into a fact. See how BBC news “could” becomes Sky News “Are”…

THE POLITICS OF E-CIGARETTES

The ongoing debate of e-cigarettes spilled over into the Parliament and naturally lead to further Politics of e-cigarettes. In light of all the negative publicity last week, e-cigarettes can be used in Parliament. MPs and staff will be allowed to vape in three areas- these are the Portcullis House building, MP’s offices and their main pub Stranger’s.

ON GOING DEBATE

Circulating on facebook and newspapers are surveys and perceptions of addictions and bad habits. Last week we came across the public vs scientists’ views

chart showing public and science opinions on drug harm

Further, the Mirror has continued to ask the public opinion, should e-cigarettes be banned. Image posted for the update as of 10th April 2015.

should e-cigs be banned? survey on mirror.co.uk

The Politics of E-cigarettes continues…

 

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By steffanr