Here's one for vapers to chew on.
Following last week's decision by Irish Rail to ban the use of e-cigarettes on all train services my Forest Eireann colleague John Mallon wrote to the company and complained.
Today he received this reply:
Dear Mr Mallon
Thank you for your e-mail.
The smoking of cigarettes is prohibited on trains and at railway stations. Given their remarkable likeness the use of e-cigarettes can cause concern amongst other passengers, and they contain nicotine products known to be harmful.
In the same way as you would expect people to react if you were to smoke an e-cigarette in a restaurant, in the confined space of a railway carriage or platform, their use has led to complaints. In light of this, we have issued guidance to our staff and introduced a ban for the comfort and convenience of their fellow passengers.
Similarly to being asked to turn off a mobile phone if the conversation is causing irritation to others, most customers observe a form of social etiquette and do not deliberately undertake actions when they realise these could be annoying other people in their vicinity.
I note your unhappiness with this ban. If other guidance is issued by the Dept. of Health and/or via EU regulation, we will take these into consideration.
Now, two things strike me.
One, the claim that e-cigarettes "contain nicotine products known to be harmful". Er, what would they be? Nicotine can be addictive, that much we know, but harmful? Evidence, please.
Two, the mobile phone analogy doesn't work because mobile phones aren't banned on trains (apart from in the 'quiet coach'). Instead of banning e-cigs on trains good social etiquette would require vapers to ask fellow passengers in their immediate vicinity if they minded if they vaped on the train. Or if someone really didn't like it they could ask the vaper (politely) to stop.
This does however lead me to another aspect of vaping – the exhalation.
When I attended the E-Cig Summit in London last year I noticed at least one person exhaling large clouds of vapour. A similar thing happened at the launch of the IEA Lifestyle Unit. Several guests were vaping but one (there's always one) was being deliberately ostentatious, to make a point, perhaps.
It struck me then that some e-cigarettes (and their users) don't do themselves any favours because while I don't believe the vapour from an e-cigarette is harmful, I can understand why some people don't want to be stuck in a confined space while the person next to them exhales large clouds of vapour (no matter how quickly it disperses).
So last week, when I read that one e-cig manufacturer has developed a vapour-less product, I did think, "That sounds like a good idea."
I then watched Vapour Trails TV and discovered that for some people the exhalation is the best bit. (I understand this too because it's the exhalation of vapour, as much as anything, that mimics the act of smoking.)
So we've got a problem, Houston, and I'm not sure how we resolve it. Thoughts welcome.
Update: The stupidity of Irish Rail (Forest Eireann)