Experts’ Bill Response

Professor Sean Semple, a Professor of Exposure Science, said that the measures are “very welcome.” 

Focussing just on the aspects impacting tobacco use, he added: “Taking steps to create a tobacco-free generation are hugely positive and will help reduce the ill-health burden caused by smoking. Banning smoking outside schools and hospitals also sends an important message about the harms caused by second-hand tobacco smoke, but we should remember that the highest concentrations and longest exposures experienced by most non-smokers still occur in the home: we need to change social norms and make it as unacceptable to smoke inside homes, particularly where children are present, as it is in workplaces, bars and in outdoor playparks. 

“It is disappointing that the government has rolled back on restrictions on smoking in outside spaces of bars. A recent large study across Europe measured levels of nicotine in the air in outdoor terraces of over 200 bars and cafes, including 20 venues in the UK. Nicotine was present in the air in over 90% of terraces sampled. Higher concentrations were found in outdoor settings during evening and night-time, where two or more smokers were observed at the time of measurement and where the terraces had some walls or roof coverings. While these outdoor concentrations are much lower than the levels that would have been present inside bars prior to the smoke-free legislation of 2006/7, the World Health Organization state that there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke and that the risks of heart and lung diseases increase with increasing exposure.”

“It is very important that smokefree legislation does not include vaping. Vaping is a harm reduction approach for adult smokers trying to quit smoking” - Professor Caitlin Notley

Caitlin Notley, Professor of Addiction Sciences, has led many projects looking at the use of vapes. She delivered a welcome commentary, emphasising aspects that appear to been lost in most of the current conversations: “It is very important that smokefree legislation does not include vaping. Vaping is a harm reduction approach for adult smokers trying to quit smoking. Policies that deal with smoking and vaping in the same way send a very confusing message. In our smoking cessation trial in hospital emergency departments, patients found it easier to switch to vaping in contexts where they were supported to do so, such as smoke-free but ‘vape friendly’ NHS sites.

“The ban on single use vapes that was previously announced sends a clear message to young people, as these vapes have to date been a low cost, easily accessible option to take up vaping, with marketing fairly obviously targeted at young people. However bans can have unintended consequences, and the history of prohibition tells us that outright bans often do not work.”

“Bans can have unintended consequences, and the history of prohibition tells us that outright bans often do not work” - Professor Caitlin Notley

Professor Notley continued: “Already manufacturers are producing low-cost re-usable devices, so a ban specifically on disposables may have very limited impact. Through our work we know that young people can easily get hold of illicit black-market products – a ban may fuel black-market sales, which is a real concern as we have no control over unregulated products.

“Banning products may also confuse people about relative harms. We have to focus on the immense harms to health caused by tobacco smoking and avoid putting people off switching to less harmful alternatives, such as vaping. 

“Policies to regulate products and limit the marketing so as not to appeal to children are important, but in tightening regulations we must not make reduced harm products harder for adult smokers to access, as this could unintentionally prolong or even increase levels of tobacco smoking.”

Professor Jamie Brown has also been heavily involved in conducting vape studies, some might wonder why he failed to remind the Government of his findings. Brown limited himself to saying: “Labour will introduce a world-leading Tobacco and Vapes Bill that has the potential to be the most important public health intervention for a generation. The critical piece of the legislation will be a new law to make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. It is likely that this will phase out smoking for the next generation.

“While cigarettes and smoking remain the number one public health priority, the bill also includes powers intended to reduce vaping among people who have never smoked, such as restrictions on marketing and display. Given the evidence on how such measures affected smoking prevalence, it is likely that these changes will reduce vaping uptake in people who have never smoked. However, it is important that these measures are introduced alongside other messaging and policies that continue to encourage and support smokers to use e-cigarettes to help them quit smoking, such as mass media campaigns and the Swap to Stop scheme.”

Given that Professor Ann McNeill has been the leading academic informing Parliament  about ecig evidence, responsible for all seven evidence updates, her contribution can be best described as lightweight and unhelpful: “The last time we saw a White Paper announcing a comprehensive tobacco control strategy to combat smoking was over 25 years ago, so a refresh and enhancement of that strategy is desperately needed. This Bill should reenergise the campaign to make tobacco smoking obsolete, and bring an end to England’s biggest killer while also preventing the marketing of newer nicotine products to kids.”

Professor Lion Shahab is not only an expert in the field of vape related research, he also used vaping to quit smoking. He was effusive about the measure to combat smoking, stating that the Bill will “put the UK at the very forefront of the fight to eradicate one of the most harmful inventions of modern times and protect the future of the next generation to allow them to live a full life, unencumbered by entirely preventable cancer, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease.”

“It will be important to monitor unintended consequences of some of the measures in this bill (on flavour restrictions) and in a separate bill (banning the sale of disposable vapes) as these may make e-cigarettes a less attractive smoking cessation tool for young and adult smokers” - Professor Lion Shahab

But Professor Shahab is far more measured when it comes to some of the aspects targeted at vapes: “Given the rapid rise in youth vaping over the last few years, this bill introduces sensible measures to curb their use, including restrictions on advertising and sponsorship, packaging, point-of-sale displays and tackling the illegal sale of vapes. 

“However, in order to improve population health as a whole, it is also important to acknowledge the role that e-cigarettes have played in reducing smoking prevalence in the UK, which stands at a record low. To that end, legislation to protect youth has to be balanced with the need to support smokers to quit, including with e-cigarettes. 

“In this context, it will be important to monitor unintended consequences of some of the measures in this bill (on flavour restrictions) and in a separate bill (banning the sale of disposable vapes) as these may make e-cigarettes a less attractive smoking cessation tool for young and adult smokers. 

“Therefore, it is crucial that the government is committed to ensuring the delivery of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy that also includes funding for smoking cessation services, provision of behavioural and pharmacological support to smokers as well as public health campaigns, as these will have a crucial role to play in reducing smoking prevalence to achieve the government smokefree target of 5% by 2030, which it is likely to miss on current projections.”

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV

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Dave 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.