Over the past few years, it has been pretty much commonly agreed on many sides – healthcare, consumers, retailers – that vaping is a good substitute for smoking cigarettes, and can lead people to drop their bad habit and consume nicotine in a safer fashion instead. But where do our politicians stand on this? You would imagine they would come out in force on the side of vaping against smoking, considering the huge toll smoking takes on the NHS, in the form of illnesses such as lung cancer, heart disease, strokes, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPB).
Vaping company GoSmokeFree.co.uk decided to ask over 500 respondents to find out how much they knew about what our politicians think of vaping, and found that nearly a quarter (22%) said they were confused about the UK’s political stance on it. As it turns out, MPs across the main two parties have been found to agree on the vital role vaping can play in helping Britain achieve Smoke Free 2030 targets. Back in 2019, ministers pledged to make England smoke-free by 2030, relying on making smoked tobacco obsolete, and by smokers quitting, or moving to reduced risk products such as e-cigarettes.
An All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Smoking and Health has authored a Tobacco Control Plan (TCP). It has four national ambitions:
1. The first smoke free generation.
2. Smoke free pregnancy.
3. Parity of esteem for those with mental health conditions.
4. Backing evidence-based innovations, such as vaping, to support quitting.
All of this is great news, and should reassure those either trying to quit smoking, or who have already switched to vaping. However, the study also found that just over half of us – 53% – actually know how vaping works. At its simplest, e-cigarettes are battery-powered devices which allow people to inhale nicotine in a vapour, rather than smoke. Some are cigarette or pen-shaped, while others are described as ‘pods’, and look more like a short, flat USB stick, and there are also some known as ‘mods’, which are larger than the others, with a refillable tank, longer lasting rechargeable batteries, and variable power. Then liquid is heated into an aerosol that the user inhales, then exhales. This liquid typically contains nicotine – the addictive drug found in regular cigarettes and other tobacco products – propylene glycol, glycerin, flavorings, and other chemicals. In many e-cigarettes, puffing activates the battery-powered heating device, which vaporizes the liquid in the cartridge. The person then inhales the resulting aerosol or vapour (which is what is known as vaping). In essence, it sounds a lot better than sucking on a carcinogenic tube full of tobacco and nicotine (aka, a traditional cigarette).
Based on how bad smoking can be for one’s health, GoSmokeFree.co.uk also asked if the government should make it illegal, and over a third – 34% – said that they should. One country is already in the process of trying to make this happen – New Zealand plans to stop young people ever smoking in their lifetime, largely by making it illegal to sell or provide tobacco products to people born after a certain date. Gosmokefree.co.uk also asked people if they knew the difference between smoking and vaping. 1 in 10 said they didn’t know. The differences are fairly significant: essentially, smoking delivers nicotine to the user by burning tobacco, – this is what can cause related diseases and illnesses – while vaping provides the nicotine by heating a liquid in a much less harmful way.
Finally, GoSmokeFree.co.uk asked people if they thought anti-smoking laws were tough enough. Well over half (60%) said yes. Thanks to the smoking ban brought in in 2007, it’s now illegal to smoke in any pub, restaurant, nightclub, and most workplaces and work vehicles, anywhere in the UK. This has a significant impact on second hand smoke, as non-smokers are much less likely to be in a situation where they are ‘trapped’ in a space where they will potentially inhale smoke themselves. Businesses can be fined up to £2,500 if they don’t stop people smoking in the workplace, or up to £1,000 if they don’t display ‘no smoking’ signs, while workers can be fined up to £200 for lighting up in a non designated part of their office.