Department of Health confirm no ecig ban in rest of UK
Following draconian proposals to ban vaping from public places in Wales, what is the future for England?
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by Dave Cross
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We have featured many cases of vaping being banned from public places, without scientific justification, from around the world. The Welsh Labour proposal to remove the rights of publicans to decide for themselves whether or not to allow vaping on their premises shocked many by its totalitarian nature.
Mark Drakeford, Wales’ health minister, claimed that allowing electronic cigarettes to be used in such places undermined all of the progress made in reducing smoking – ignoring that the entire gateway argument has been debunked more times than Nostradamus’ predictions.
Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation Wales and Action Against Smoking and Health spoke out against the misguided plans while the Welsh Liberal Democrats immediately formed an online petition to focus protest and hopefully prevent another example of over-regulation.
They say: “The Welsh Lib Dems believe every decision taken by Government should be based on a body of sound evidence. Welsh Labour's proposed ban on e-cigs in enclosed public places just doesn't meet that mark.”
“Not only is there very little evidence to suggest that e-cigarettes are passively harmful, but there's a high chance this heavy-handed approach could be counter-productive. Many vapers use e-cigs as an aid to give up smoking, and in some places where a similar ban has been introduced smoking rates have increased again.”
“Banning things just for the sake of it isn’t a position any Government should take. That's why the Welsh Lib Dems are standing up to this illiberal move, and why we want you on board by signing the petition.”
Fortunately for England, the Department of Health have confirmed that they will not be following Wales’ lead and there will be no similar ban extended to the country.
According to The Morning Advertiser, Brigid Simmonds, the chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, welcomed the announcement. Although a number of pub chains have instituted their own ban, she doesn’t feel it is appropriate for government to remove the right of the publican to choose.
Vapers will see this as a victory for common sense and hope that it is continued throughout the Article 20 implementation.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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