Are we doing enough to encourage the use of e-cigarettes?

When it comes to e-cigarettes and vaping, the United Kingdom remains one of the most welcoming countries. Currently, there are no laws prohibiting or restricting their use in public places. However, we are increasingly finding that many indoor establishments, as well as outdoor locations such as railway stations and attractions, are treating vaping the same as smoking.

I would always advise people to be respectful when using e-cigarettes in public, but is it fair that we are frequently treated the same as smokers? What impact might this have on public perception as well as the choices smokers may make?

Cancer Research UK concluded in 2016 that "there is no evidence that second-hand e-cigarette vapour is dangerous to others." A year later, evidence clearly demonstrating that it is not harmful or dangerous was released by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), which confirmed that second-hand vapour produced by e-cigarettes is 'harmless.' CDPH officials conducted tests on non-ventilated vape shops in order to identify any toxic substances that might be present in the air (which, as you may know, can be quite cloudy in some vape shops!).

This may not come as a surprise to those of us who have been using nicotine vapour products for years, but it is a fact that seems to be largely ignored and always under-reported. I fully acknowledge that vaping may not be appropriate in certain places or situations, but treating it as if it were smoking is incorrect and misleading. We (correctly) prohibited smoking in pubs and clubs in order to protect the health of those who did not smoke. Why are we prohibiting people from vaping in these situations? Clubs and music venues are frequently filled with 'artificial smoke' from smoke machines; what difference will a few more e-cigarette users make?

Allowing people to use an e-cigarette inside a club, music venue, or pub, for example, may persuade smokers to try a vapour product for the first time. If even a small percentage of those people go on to become ex-smokers and continue to use e-cigarettes, we will have improved the health of many people. People need encouragement and incentives to quit smoking; smokers frequently ignore the health risks until it's too late... and I speak from personal experience. If you don't have to go outside on a cold night and stand in an alleyway with a bunch of people smoking, vaping becomes a lot more appealing. If they have to do it anyway, they might as well not bother.

 businesses should do more to disseminate information, but in many cases and at many times, I believe they are doing more than we might expect. In this blog, I frequently mention cancer charities, PHE, and other public information organizations. Despite this, many people continue to have a negative perception of vaping that contradicts scientific evidence... and those perceptions appear to be growing. Is it any surprise that people still regard it as'smoking' and harmful when it is frequently treated as such? "If it's not harmful and poses no risk to others, why shouldn't you be able to vape on an open air train platform?" they might wonder.

Advocates for harm reduction want to make vaping more appealing and accessible to smokers. I would argue that one of the most appealing aspects of vaping is the ability to vape freely in places where smoking is prohibited. The more barriers that are placed in the way of where we can and cannot consume nicotine in a safe manner, the less value smokers will see in switching to an e-cigarette.

Vaping has the potential to render the combustible cigarette obsolete. Nonetheless, it appears that we live in a country where vaping is frowned upon, treated the same as smoking, and something we are frequently told not to do.