Last week Scottish Government plans to ban the use of e-cigarettes in public places were scrapped, after Ministers conceded that such a move could harm efforts to reduce smoking.
Here in Wales, the Welsh Government has included controversial plans to restrict the use of e-cigarettes in its Public Health (Wales) Bill.
If the proposals go-ahead, Wales would become the only part of the UK to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in enclosed public places.
Now that the Scottish Government’s plans have gone up in a puff of smoke, we can only hope that the Welsh Labour Government will finally see sense and shelve their own plans to ban the use of e-cigarettes in public places.
Scottish Ministers now concede what we have argued all along; that e-cigarettes can play a significant role in helping smokers to quit.
Introducing such a ban would be a huge step backwards for quitters. There is a clear danger that forcing someone outside into a smoker’s hut will put them in temptation’s way and harm their health due to second-hand smoke exposure. We should be giving people a helping hand to quit – not yanking them backwards.
Anything that stigmatises those working hard to improve their health should be very carefully examined.
Dr Pat Riordan, director of the Health and Healthcare Improvement Division, which runs Stop Smoking Wales, agrees. He has said "The last thing we want to do is alienate smokers who are using e-cigs in good faith as a part of their attempt to cut down or quit smoking."
Public health guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ‘Tobacco: harm-reduction approaches to smoking’ supports the use of licenced nicotine containing products to aid people in cutting down or quitting smoking. And a BBC poll of nearly 1,000 people suggested most people supported the use of e-cigarettes in public places.
Anything that stigmatises those working hard to improve their health should be very carefully examined. A survey of more than 1,600 e-cigarette users found that 61% would return to tobacco if e-cigs were banned. With one person dying from smoking-related illness every 90 minutes in Wales and with smoking the biggest cause of avoidable ill health and early death in the UK, surely it is better for people to be using e-cigarettes than the real thing.
The Welsh Government’s war on e-cigarettes is misguided and I hope last week’s u-turn by the Scottish Government will force them to reconsider introducing a ban here in Wales.
They need to listen to the growing chorus of voices, including amongst their own supporters, who are calling for their e-cigarette plans to be scrapped.
People who choose to use e-cigarettes do so because they are trying to kick a very addictive and unhealthy habit. We should be supporting these people in their efforts as much as we can, not hindering them.