Would You Support A Ban?
Vapers almost exclusively by current and ex-smokers, but would you join in with the calls to completely ban tobacco products? Even if it led to a ban on vape products?
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by Dave Cross
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New Zealand recently passed a law that will ban cigarette sales to future generations. No Kiwi born after 2008 will ever be allowed to purchase tobacco products as part of a plan to deliver what Health Minister Ayesha Verrall calls "a smoke-free future".
The global first has not met with universal approval. Critics have called it “nanny state prohibition” and said it will fuel a black market in illicit cigarettes, predicting it is going to cause problems down the line.
UK’s Labour Party has said that it might consider similar measures, according to the shadow health secretary last week. Similarly, critics were swift to attack the possible move – albeit media companies that lean towards the Conservatives and organisations funded by the tobacco industry.
But what about the public?
YouGov found that a whopping 57% of respondents fully support the idea of implementing a New Zealand style prohibition – meaning that even 40yr olds would be too young to buy a pack of 20 come the year 2050.
Of those 57%, over half of them “strongly support” such a measure.
Labour believes this is the next logical step following the banning of smoking in certain public spaces and workplaces and building on the current pack-based warnings.
Would vapers go along with the measure?
A potential problem for e-cigarette users could be that YouGov conducted a similar survey last year and discovered, “that Britons also tend to favour banning vaping products: a quarter (27%) of the public would remove them from sale as soon as possible, while a fifth (21%) would ban them from 2030 onwards. Overall, half are in favour of a nationwide vape escape (48%) – now or later – while just over a third are opposed (36%).
“Older Britons are most supportive of a ban on vaping products: more than half (52%) of over-65s want to see them prohibited compared to 46% of 18-24s, with a third (32%) favouring an imminent ban compared to just a quarter (24%) of the youngest cohort.”
Vaping has been lauded by independent experts as being the most successful quit smoking tool to date, with research demonstrating its efficacy when compared to traditional methods.
Is it right to implement a complete ban on buying tobacco? Would it then be fair to ban vape products? What do you think?
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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