Our Letter to the Welsh Health and Social Care Committee

On the 17^th of September the Health and Social Care Committee took evidence from amongst others, Dr Stephen Monaghan of BMA Wales and Dr Jane Fenton-May of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

In their evidence Dr Monaghan and Dr Fenton-May made a number of statements:

• Nicotine is addictive
• Nicotine is dangerous
• Children share e-cigarettes and therefore contact hepatitis
• Vaping undermines the smoking ban
• E-cigarettes are targeted at children
• Passive vaping is dangerous
• E-cigarettes lead to the renormalisation of smoking and are a gateway to smoking
• The e-cigarette industry is owned by tobacco
• People using them do not realise that they contain nicotine

Like you, we believe that policy should be based on evidence and as a campaign representing the interests of vapers, their friends, and their families, this is particularly important to us. It was therefore interesting that when asked by two members of the committee to provide evidence, they were unable to provide a single piece of evidence to support a single one of the above statements.

Does vaping undermine the smoking ban?

There is no evidence what-so-ever to indicate that vaping undermines the smoking ban or makes it harder to enforce. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the body tasked with enforcing the ban, stated that there is a 99.7 per cent compliance rate with the smoking ban, and they have found no evidence to support the idea that vaping in public is undermining this.[1]

Are e-cigarettes targeted at children?

No. Evidence produced by a variety of organisations including ASH and the American Cancer Society (ACS) clearly shows that flavours do not entice non-smokers to use e-cigarettes. Researchers from the ACS[2] found that flavours did not increase the attractiveness of e-cigarettes to teenagers. Rather, ‘Even after controlling for other statistically significant correlates, the odds of a smoker being willing to try an e-cigarette were 10 times those of a non-smoker.’

Flavours are though important for adult smokers switching to vaping. In research[3] carried out by Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos and others, vapers stated that the availability of flavours was “very important” in their effort to reduce or quit smoking. This research also found that the majority of vapers would find e-cigarettes “less enjoyable” or “boring” if flavours were restricted, while 48.5 per cent of vapers stated that it would increase their cravings for tobacco cigarettes and 39.7 per cent of vapers said that without flavours it would have been less likely for them to reduce or quit smoking.

Strict new advertising rules also make it impossible for the industry to target children through advertising and a ban on the sale of e-cigarettes to under 18s will soon be introduced in Wales.

Are e-cigarettes used regularly by children?

 No. Looking specifically at Wales, Cancer Research UK concluded: ‘Looking specifically at two studies dedicated the use of e-cigarettes amongst young people in Wales only a minority of teenagers who try e-cigarettes go on to become regular users. And the majority of those who do use the devices regularly were already smokers.’[4] This is backed up by research undertaken by ASH.[5] We also know of no cases of hepatitis contacted from shared vaping.

Do e-cigarettes lead to a renormalisation of smoking and act as a gateway to smoking?

No. We are very lucky in the UK that a significant amount of work is done on the issues or gateway and renormalisation. This work in updated on a regular basis and is principally carried out by Professor Robert West and ASH. Both state that there is no evidence that e-cigarettes act as a gateway into smoking[6] and that there is no evidence that vaping risks re-normalising smoking.[7]

Is the e-cigarette industry really owned by big tobacco?

No. Figures produced by the Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association (ECITA) show that of the 407 brands/companies operating in this sector in the UK only six are owned by tobacco companies. The companies they own are those that manufacture and sell the cig-a-like e-cigarettes. These are the more ineffective products that are used by an increasing minority of vapers as research from the University of East London demonstrates.[8]

Is nicotine addictive and dangerous?

 Most e-liquids will contain pharmaceutical grade nicotine. It will be MHRA approved and the same as that used in NRT products. This clean nicotine in and of itself is not a harmful substance. Professor Robert West said, “E-cigarettes are about as safe as you can get. We know about the health risks of nicotine. Nicotine is not what kills you when you smoke tobacco. E-cigarettes are probably about as safe as drinking coffee.”[9] Over the summer a number of bodies including ASH[10] and the Royal Society of Public Health[11] called for more to be done to ensure the public understand that nicotine is ‘not the deadly component in cigarettes.’

Nicotine is addictive when consumed via cigarette smoke. However, as Professor Linda Bauld and others have made clear, nicotine when consumed in a form other than tobacco is not a particularly addictive substance.[12] You can see this with vapers. Many heavy smokers when they first switch to vaping will start off using a high strength nicotine e-liquid, but over time they will reduce the strength they use and some will even go on to vape nicotine free e-liquid. Vapers often forget to vape; would they do this if they were addicted?

Is passive vaping dangerous?

No. A major scientific study undertaken by Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos and Professor Riccardo Polosa concluded that the “effects of e-cigarette use on by standers are minimal compared with conventional cigarettes.”[13] A review of the available literature conducted last year by researchers at the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia concluded that “exposures of bystanders pose no apparent concern.” Finally the US Food and Drug Administration conclude that all other substances measured for e-cigarettes were far below allowable levels for human inhalation. They state that levels are so low that it is more hazardous to an individual’s health to breathe the air in any major metropolitan city during rush hour.

Conclusion

Dr Monaghan’s and Dr Fenton-May’s statements were caveated with ifs and maybes. There should be no room for ifs and maybes in policy making. When asked they were unable to provide members of the committee with any evidence to support their statements. In this briefing we have countered their statements with facts and we have drawn those facts from ASH, Cancer Research UK, the MHRA, Professor Linda Bauld, Professor Robert West, Public Health England, ECITA, Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos, the ONS, Royal Society of Public Health, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, University of East London, Professor Riccardo Polosa, the American Cancer Society and others.

Banning vaping in enclosed public places is not a minor change as supporters of the ban will have you believe. Vapers will go back to smoking and fewer smokers will switch to vaping.

We have pointed out time and time again that there is no evidence to justify this ban. We have provided AMs with numerous briefings and we have written countless times to the Minister and his officials. We feel like we are banging our heads against a brick wall and when we watch evidence sessions like the one on the 17^th of September we simply want to cry. What do we have to do to get a fair hearing and for facts to triumph over unfounded, evidence free fears?

 

Yours sincerely

 

Save E-cigs

 

 

 

 

[1] Meeting of the All-Party Groups on Smoking and Health, Pharmacy, and Heart Disease 10 June 2014

[2] http://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(12)00409-0/fulltext

[3] http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/12/7272

[4] http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/news-report/2015-04-16-regular-e-cigarette-use-low-among-teens-analysis-suggests

[5] http://www.ash.org.uk/media-room/press-releases/:latest-data-finds-no-evidence-that-electronic-cigarettes-are-a-gateway-to-smoking-for-young-people

[6] http://metro.co.uk/2014/04/27/e-cigs-cleared-of-being-route-into-smoking-4710734/

[7] http://metro.co.uk/2014/04/27/e-cigs-cleared-of-being-route-into-smoking-4710734/

[8] http://www.uel.ac.uk/psychology/staff/lynnedawkins/

[9] The Guardian newspaper 05 June 2013

[10] http://www.ash.org.uk/:ash-supports-calls-for-more-to-be-done-on-public-understanding-of-nicotine

[11] http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/13/health-bosses-promote-e-cigarettes-harmful-tobacco-smoking-experts

[12] http://www.scottishparliament.tv/category.aspx?id=19&page=1&sort=date

[13] Safety evaluation and risk assessment of electronic cigarettes as tobacco cigarette substitutes: a systematic review:

Konstantinos E. Farsalinos and Riccardo Polosa

published online 13 February 2014 Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety

Welsh Assembly Petition Handover Briefing

In April 2014 the Welsh Government’s Health Minister Mark Drakeford published a new Health White Paper. This paper included proposals to ban on the use of e-cigarettes in enclosed public spaces, substantially enclosed public places, and places of work in Wales.

The Health White Paper: http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/healthsocialcare/white-paper/?lang=en

According to ASH Wales there are 100,000 e-cigarette users (vapers) in Wales. All of these people are now smoking significantly fewer or no tobacco cigarettes as a direct result. As e-cigarette sales rise tobacco sales fall. Recently publish figures from the Welsh Health Survey show that smoking rates have fallen in Wales by two per cent.

In June 2014 Simon Thurlow, a representative of the Save E-cigs campaign in Wales, launched a Welsh Assembly petition opposing the Welsh Government’s proposed ban on the use of e-cigarettes in enclosed public places. This petition has been signed by e-cigarette users from across Wales.

The petition: https://www.assemblywales.org/en/gethome/e-petitions/Pages/petitiondetail.aspx?PetitionID=657

On Wednesday the 1st of October Save E-cigs will formally deliver this petition to the Welsh Assembly’s Petitions Committee at 13:00. The petition will be delivered by another Save E-cigs representative in Wales, Rhydian Mann. Rhydian will then address the members of the committee setting out why this proposal, if implemented, would not just be bad for vapers, be bad for public health in Wales, but also impractical to implement. These reasons include:

The fact that passive vaping is not dangerous. A major scientific study undertaken by Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos and Professor Riccardo Polosa concluded that the “effects of e-cigarette use on by standers are minimal compared with conventional cigarettes.”1 A review of the available literature conducted last year by researchers at the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia concluded that “exposures of bystanders pose no apparent concern.” Finally the US Food and Drug Administration conclude that all other substances measured for e-cigarettes were far below allowable levels for human inhalation. They state that levels are so low that it is more hazardous to an individual’s health to breathe the air in any major metropolitan city during rush hour. The fact that e-cigarettes do not undermine the smoking ban. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health stated that there is a 99.7 per cent compliance rate with the smoking ban2, and they have found no evidence to support the idea that the use of e-cigarettes in public is undermining this. o

The fact that the public use of e-cigarettes does not lead to a renormalisation of smoking. Professor Robert West, following his latest research concluded: “Despite claims that electronic cigarettes risk re-normalising smoking, we found no evidence to support this.

The fact that e-cigarettes are not a gateway to smoking. Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of ASH, said: “There is no evidence from our research that e-cigarettes are acting as a gateway into smoking.”

The fact that when a similar ban was introduced in Spain there was a 70 per cent fall in the number of vapers. People that had made the switch to e-cigarettes are unfortunately now smoking again. Smoking rates also increased in New York by a staggering 2.1 per cent following the introduction of a ban on the use of e-cigarettes in public.

The fact that this proposed ban fails to take into account e-cigarettes that have a medicinal license. Recently the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency granted a medicines license to the Voke e-cigarette manufactured by Nicoventures.

This e-cigarette looks exactly like many other e-cigarettes. Are Voke e-cigarettes to be included in this proposed ban? If the Welsh Government implement this ban and exempt Voke e-cigarettes how will they expect businesses and employers to know who is using a Voke and who is using another e-cigarette? If they do not exempt Voke e-cigarettes they would be preventing someone using in public a product that could have been prescribed by their doctor.

 

 

1 Safety evaluation and risk assessment of electronic cigarettes as tobacco cigarette substitutes: a systematic review: Konstantinos E. Farsalinos and Riccardo Polosa published online 13 February 2014 Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety

2 Meeting of the All-Party Groups on Smoking and Health, Pharmacy, and Heart Disease 10 June 2014

3 http://metro.co.uk/2014/04/27/e-cigs-cleared-of-being-route-into-smoking-4710734/

4 http://metro.co.uk/2014/04/27/e-cigs-cleared-of-being-route-into-smoking-4710734/

5 http://www.thinkspain.com/news-spain/24345/e-cigarette-sales-in-spain-drop-by-70-per-cent

6 http://www.churnmag.com/news/smoking-rates-increase-new-york-e-cigs-banned/

7 http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/news/big-tobaccos-nicotine-inhaler-approved-by-uk-regulator/20066466.article

“I resist things that feel wrong, that feel unethical and I have always been anti-anything which sounds like being unjust. Very often this meant being badmouthed as being anti-establishment.”

Hazel Mabe, vaping activist.

 

An interview with Hazel Mabe; vaper and activist from IG-ED (Interessengemeinschaft E-Dampfen e.V.), the first and largest German vaping association, and a member EVUN, a forum for all European vapers organisations and individuals to unite.

 

We were very lucky to have the chance to talk to Hazel Mabe, a lady that is a force to be reckoned with within the German vaping community. We caught up with her over Skype, and asked her not only how she got into vaping, but also how she became involved with IG-ED and EVUN, and found that protesting runs deep in her blood.

Hazel was, as she says ‘confronted with vaping’ by a friend of hers. In the German language, vaping can also mean ‘steaming with anger’ – so when Hazel’s friend posted a comment to say she was vaping, Hazel instantly thought she was angry and was having yet another fight with her husband!  But  thankfully not so.

It was this simple post that started Hazel’s vaping journey.

After plenty of Google searching Hazel well and truly got into vaping, and like many of us on this journey she’d smoked for 30 years and she’d smoked a lot – in the end it was 45 fags a day. She was finding it increasingly hard to walk upstairs without gasping for breath.

Starting off with a ‘ciggie like’ because that’s what she wanted, the entire concept of vaping appealed to her. It wasn’t only the fresh taste she enjoyed, but it tickled her sense of humour, as she liked nothing less than vaping where smoking was banned and then pop the ciggie like back into her pocket to the astonishment of onlookers!

 

But switching completely took its time; it wasn’t a case of zero cigarettes after the first vape. Hazel initially felt she would be happy with a 50% reduction in her smoking, as that was the best she had ever achieved with NRT. But after four days of vaping, she found herself having only smoked 10 of the usual 45 cigarettes, and it was then she became competitive with herself. If she made it through the day without a cigarette, she would (interestingly) “reward” herself with a cigarette just before going to sleep.

But by Xmas of 2010, roughly a month after starting her vaping journey, there were days when she was forgetting to smoke.

On the 2^nd Jan 2011 Hazel had her last cigarette, as that ‘reward’ that night tasted disgusting.

3^rd Jan 2011 was Hazels first smoke free day. She’s been smoke free ever since.

 

3 weeks after starting to vape she became involved with the German vaping forums, and gradually became more and more involved, finally becoming integrated into one of the two largest forums and becoming a moderator. As a dedicated DIY mixer, Hazel became briefly the ‘Queen of self-mixing’, helping new vapers to start mixing their own e juice, and that´s how a lot of people in the community became aware of who she was.

Asking her about this, and why she wanted to get involved in fighting the EU, Hazel quickly replied “it’s normal for me, I was a hippie in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I was a student that protested in the streets against Vietnam and the Shah of Persia, and against the government at the time, as it was bringing in emergency measures that would abolish many civil rights in Germany during a time of crisis.”

“I resist things that feel wrong, that feel unethical and I have always been anti-anything which sounds like being unjust. Very often this meant being badmouthed as being anti-establishment.”

Unfortunately due to a personal situation Hazel retired from the forums, but still wanted to continue to work for vapers, and it was suggested that she could help IG-ED.

What could she offer? Her major at University had been German language, so it evolved that IG-ED wrote the draft article they want to publish, and Hazel would just polish it up. She soon took on the role of international relations, as being an American German, (with a father that was half Native American Indian who had fought for his people), she had all the language skills required, and you can see where the protesting genes came from!

Hazel, and as a result German and EU vapers also had the added advantage that for years she had run her own PR company with her husband. From that experience Hazel learnt how people and companies manipulate the masses into believing this or that, “you mostly do it for commercial purposes but you can do it as well on a political scale, for law making, and now this experience comes in handy.”

She understood the political and regulatory game that was being played out with the TPD in the media and elsewhere.

 

 

Currently IG-ED are in a planning phase, as the German Government changed last year, unfortunately at the same time the TPD trilogue meetings were underway. German MP’s and administrative officials have moved jobs, ministries have merged, and of course there are now new people. At the moment IG-ED is busy identifying who their specialist contact persons in the new administration are, and are starting to plan a possible campaign for the members of Parliament.

At the same time, IG-ED are busy doing all they can to support the German EFVI collection of signatures. They started a project called “IG-ED on tour” which is designed to get out into the streets with a little mobile booth to inform the public about vaping in general, as well as about the EFVI initiative and about IG-ED’s work – and last but not least: to collect more supportive signatures, from passers-by who would lend them an ear.

IG-ED are also supporting German EFVI activists in establishing a German version of the British Dodo boxes – both by logistical means as well as topping the crowd funding efforts of the German EFVI activists, for financing the boxes by 10 per cent of the collected donations.

Within roughly 10 days, the community donated ~ 3,300 Euros, and IG-ED put their 10% on top resulting in enough money not only for having the boxes produced, but also for paying the postage, plus extra measures such as printing flyers, printing lists for collecting signatures and the likes.

 

And then there is EVUN, set up to help European vapers consumer organisations to co-ordinate what is going on in each country, to let each other know what’s happening, and to provide a stronger voice for vapers in Europe. Being a fantastic networker, the EVUN Facebook page can now boast 1’148 members from across the EU.

As Hazel says, “ We need to communicate with MEPs and the Eurocrats at eye level, not from a submissive position. After all, WE pay THEM!”

“I’m passionate about this. The EU are taking us all for a ride mostof the time, and people don’t realise it!”

“The EU does give us a few advantages, and people seem to only see those, we can’t allow the EU to lead us down a road of destruction. Working previously with very high-ranking Politicians I have no fear of the EU. Be as brilliant as Helmut Schmitd and then I might just respect you! At the moment the EU are M.B.A. – ‘mediocre but arrogant’ – especially the politicians that were involved in trilogue, they have no backbone!”

Talking of the upcoming European Parliament elections, Hazel feels that lots of vapers will vote for the alternative groups as they are fed up, but in Germany the alternative group has no idea about electronic cigarettes. “I wrote to them asking for their position towards the e-cigarette, but for them this is not an issue, they are too busy campaigning on leaving the Euro, claiming that the Euro makes slaves of us all. I can understand it from their point of view – it’s always the big bankers that pull the strings, of all the governments, and it’s Big Industry pulling the strings of MEPs and Committee members by lobbying them to a point where they forget who they should be obliged to and I would love to be one of those who remind them.”

And her final comment to end the interview? “See, I told you I was wayward.” And we are very grateful that she is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Majority of Lib Dems say e-cigarettes should be regulated as medicinal smoking cessation patches or gum!

The words below were copy and pasted from this website: http://www.libdemvoice.org/drugs-and-ecigarettes-criminalise-legalise-regulate-heres-what-lib-dem-members-think-39554.html

This is apparently what the Liberal Democrats really think about e cigs, and it has surprised us here at Save e cigs, as there were ( are? ) a few Lib Dems who fought very hard for e cigs.

But it appears they are the minority.

Have a read and then let us know what you think in the comments section – ( but please be polite!)

Majority say e-cigarettes should be regulated as medicinal smoking cessation patches or gum

Electronic cigarettes contain a nicotine-based liquid that is vaporised and inhaled by the user, providing a flavour and physical sensation similar to smoking a cigarette. They do not contain tobacco, which means there is no tar – it is the tar in ordinary cigarettes that kills.

Some say that e-cigarettes will lead to a reduction in people smoking tobacco cigarettes. Others say they are a gateway to smoking tobacco cigarettes. Which of the following statements do you agree with most regarding e-cigarettes?

54% – They should be regulated in the same way as medicinal smoking cessation patches or gum
20% – They should be regulated in the same way as products such as food

14% – They should be treated the same as standard tobacco cigarettes

1% – They should be banned entirely

3% – Other

9% – Don’t know

An interesting response here: over half (54%) of Lib Dems supported the regulation of e-cigarettes as medicinal smoking cessation patches or gum. This was the option Lib Dem MEPs successfully defeated in the European parliament on the grounds it would would have increased e-cigarettes’ cost and reduced their availability in many countries. Their accepted amendment saw e-cigarettes treated in the same as standard tobacco cigarettes, an option favoured by just 14% of party members here. Here’s a sample of your comments…

• As a smoker, I’d say getting rid of them is crazy – we need to think about getting people off cigarettes, and a smoking substitute like this has far more appeal than patches or gum. Having said that, nicotine even without tar isn’t as vanilla as chocolate or whatever, so the food classification strikes me as odd.
• Tax the electronic cigarette if purchased on the high street , if prescribed for addicts to recover from addiction do not tax.
• They shouldn’t be advertised; the advertising of a addictive substances should be banned entirely. Otherwise, restricting access to adults seems entirely sufficient.
• They should be banned entirely: it will not be long before some smart alec developes a method of vaporising most, if not all, hard drugs to be “smoked” and inhaled with these contraptions. Even the Dutch are contemplating outlawing the process because of this risk.
• I suspect the answers to this question will make me consider whether I am in the right party when they are published. Far too many of my fellow Lib Dems are fond of bansturbation…
• Restricted to chemist shops, or e cigarette shops.
• Why on earth should anyone be complaining about e-cigarettes? If they stop people from real smoking then they should be supported.
• Thanks to electronic cigarettes I have not touched a real cigarette for more than eight months. I would estimate that over half the smokers at work now smoke electronic cigarettes. I feel far healthier and don’t get out of breath easily like I used to. They are very new, however, and until there is any evidence of harm they should be easily accessible.
• Restricting e-cigarettes threatens what could be the greatest public health advance for years. Tobacco kills so anything that helps people off it must be good.

• My wife uses one sometimes, and I hope that it may help her to reduce her use of cigarettes. It slightly reduces my exposure to passive smoking. If they were available on prescription then there would be another opportunity for the medical advice to be repeated.
• I support the regulation of these products to ensure they are of a safe standard and are not available to minors but I am totally opposed to the use being banned in public places as there is no issue with breathing in second hand smoke, dangerous to health unlike real cigarettes
• We do not have longitudinal studies of the impact of e-cigs, and while the risk is unknown, let’s not kill people. We made that mistake with normal cigarettes.
• There is plenty of evidence that cigarettes are dangerous to people who aren’t smoking them, which it is right for them to be regulated. There is no such evidence for these, so let people get on with their lives.
• I stopped smoking virtually overnight with these. They are far less harmful than cigarettes. It would be madness to ban then whilst still allowing incendiary cigarettes.
• I’m happy with the compromise agreed upon by the European parliament. They are not the same as food, and should not be regulated as such, but it is far from proven that the risk of encouraging smoking comes close to outweighing the advantages to people trying to give up.
• We have no idea what drugs these preparations contain, nor what their long-term effects are. They should therefore either be treated as drugs or food products and their safety evaluated and monitored.
• The passing of the ‘smoke-filled room’ has been accepted socially. It would be hard for organizations to stop the near-equivalent from returning – and for the occasional real cigarette to be spotted. They do make ‘smoking’ acceptable again.
• Why on earth would a more expensive product that is only now becoming as available as cigarettes be a gateway to cigarettes?
• There needs to be regulation of the content and strength of e-cigarettes. Nicotine is a very addictive drug (some say more addictive than herione) so, though having fewer side-effects such as cancer (as far as we know so far), they are not to be encouraged. If tobacco had been discovered today, it would have been treated as a hard drug and rightly banned. Too late, unfortunately.
• All substances should be sensibly regulated with an eye to ensuring the individual is fully aware of risks.

1,500 Lib Dem paid-up party members are registered with LibDemVoice.org. 745 responded in full – and a further 87 in part – to the latest survey, which was conducted between 16th and 22nd April.
Please note: we make no claims that the survey is fully representative of the Lib Dem membership as a whole. However, LibDemVoice.org’s surveys are the largest independent samples of the views of Lib Dem members across the country, and have in the past offered accurate guides to what party members think.
For further information on the reliability/credibility of our surveys, please refer to FAQs: Are the Liberal Democrat Voice surveys of party members accurate? and polling expert Anthony Wells’ verdict, On that poll of Lib Dem members.
The full archive of our members’ surveys can be viewed at http://www.libdemvoice.org/category/ldv-members-poll
* Stephen Tall is Co-Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, and editor of the 2013 publication, The Coalition and Beyond: Liberal Reforms for the Decade Ahead. He is also a Research Associate for the liberal think-tank CentreForum and writes at his own site, The Collected Stephen Tall.