No smoke without fire, the debate on e-cigarettes

The issue of e-cigarettes in Wales has got a bit heated recently thanks to a proposal by the Welsh Government to ban their use in public places. It is a proposal that iseing resisted by all three opposition parties in the Senedd.

Their view, which I share is that whereas the smoking ban was based on clear evidence of the damage caused by second-hand smoke, there is no such evidence available to support a similiar measure with regards to e-cigarettes.

The Minister argues that his proposal is to try and prevent the normalisation of smoking, but that effectively means that he is using legislation to manage people's behaviour. More importantly, there is clear evidence, as this report from the BBC outlines, that e-cigarettes help people to give up smoking.

The BBC say that a survey of nearly 6,000 smokers by a University College London team found that  a fifth had quit with the aid of e-cigarettes. 

The lead researcher Prof Robert West, one of the UK's leading experts in this field, said: "E-cigarettes could substantially improve public health because of their widespread appeal and the huge health gains associated with stopping smoking."

But he also pointed out that despite the findings - published in the journal Addiction - by far the most effective way of quitting was to use NHS stop smoking services which tripled the odds of a smoker quitting when compared to buying nicotine replacement treatments without specialist help.

And he added: "Some public health experts have expressed concern that widespread use of e-cigarettes could 're-normalise' smoking. However, we are tracking this very closely and see no evidence of it.

"Smoking rates in England are declining, quitting rates are increasing and regular e-cigarette use among never smokers is negligible."

Some real food for thought for the Welsh Government there.