Mark Drakeford, the Health Minister for Welsh Government in 2014 published a new health white paper. He suggested a complete ban on the use of electronic cigarettes in places of work and enclosed public places. Many vaping advocated and vaper users have worked hard to prevent this, using valid scientific evidence. However, this week the health minister seems to be determined to carry on regardless of the efforts made by the Welsh Assembly Members and the current evidence.
In an interview conducted on BBC radio, Dr. Mark made a number of statements relating to the use of e-liquids and electronic cigarettes in public places. He argued that the use of electronic cigarettes in work and an enclosed public places undermines the smoking ban. This is a misleading statement. According to the survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health shows that there is an impressive 99.7% compliance rate with the smoking ban, and they found no evidence to support the claim that vaping in public undermines this.
Dr. Mark went on to state that vaping in the public places leads to the renormalisation of smoking. Again, this is an ill-fated statement. Following the latest research conducted by the Professor of Health Psychology and Director of Tobacco Studies at University College London's Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, professor Robert West, shows that there is no evidence to support the claims that electronic cigarettes risk re-normalising the use of tobacco cigarettes. He also conducted an extensive survey and found that renormalisation is actually not happening.
Again, Dr. Mark stated that electronic cigarettes are regularly used by an increasing number of teens and a sure gateway to tobacco smoking. Once again, this statement is false. The survey, conducted by Professor Robert West shows that teens are not using electronic cigarettes in significant numbers. However, vaping amongst the youth is confined almost entirely to those who previously or currently smoke.
Finally, Dr. Mark claims that if a child split e-liquid on their hands they would die. Let's face the fact here, electronic cigarettes have been used since 2003 and used by over three million people in the UK alone. To date, there is no known case of a child dying as a result of spilling e-liquid on their skin globally.
Overall, never give on electronic cigarettes to motivate your lifestyle! Don't listen to antielectronic cigarettes advocates, they care less about the public health rather than their ill-fated ideologies.