'Pro-vaping' advocates silent on vaping bans
Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 9:49
Simon Clark

I'm currently scheduled to be on Five Live between ten and eleven this morning.

It may not happen because I've been warned there could be a breaking news story that could push the item down the running order but if it goes ahead I'll be talking to Peter Allen about Nottinghamshire County Council's ban on smoking and vaping at work.

As you can see from previous posts, Forest seems to be fighting a lone battle on this issue, even on the use of e-cigarettes. Where are all the 'pro-vaping' advocates?

Oh, here's one.

The Smoke Free Policy also has the backing of the county council leader Alan Rhodes, along with health professionals across Notts.

Professor John Britton, director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol related studies, based at the University of Nottingham, welcomed the plans.

"This is terrific news," he said.

OK, I've edited this for maximum effect. For the full quote click here – Smoking breaks stubbed out for Nottinghamshire County Council workers).

As you'll see Britton is talking exclusively about smoking. But why no reference to vaping? After all, the council's policy includes a ban on the use of e-cigarettes, a product Britton has previously endorsed as an important harm reduction tool.

In 2013, for example, he featured in this BBC report (Electronic cigarettes – miracle or menace?):

"Nicotine itself is not a particularly hazardous drug," says Professor John Britton, who leads the tobacco advisory group for the Royal College of Physicians.

"It's something on a par with the effects you get from caffeine.

"If all the smokers in Britain stopped smoking cigarettes and started smoking e-cigarettes we would save five million deaths in people who are alive today. It's a massive potential public health prize."

My guess is that Britton – like most 'pro-vaping' public health advocates – is so delighted to see smoking prohibited that he doesn't want to stir the pot by protesting against the ban on vaping.

Or perhaps he just doesn't care.

Vapers, as I wrote yesterday, are collateral damage in the war on tobacco.

'Pro-vaping' public health advocates are not what they seem. Vaping is a means to an end. The long-term goal is not a smoke free society but a world free of nicotine 'addiction'.

Policies like the one introduced by Notts County Council brings that day closer than they could have hoped for.

The silence from 'pro-vaping' public health advocates on the prohibition of e-cigarettes is so loud it can be heard from Nottingham to Little Haven and beyond.

Bizarrely it is rarely if ever commented upon by vaping activists who cling to the hope (belief?) that their 'friends' in public health will save the day. Forget it.

Here's another example.

It's just been announced that Chesterfield Royal Hospital is to ban smoking and vaping throughout its grounds – Chesterfield Royal Hospital to become completely smoke-free site (Derbyshire Times).

The threat of a ban was first mentioned last year. A decision was expected in the autumn but has only now been made.

Forest made as much noise as we could. Here's an article I wrote for the Derbyshire Times – Why there shouldn’t be a complete smoking ban at Chesterfield Royal Hospital – as we were frequently quoted by the local press.

We were up against it however because the hospital's Twitter account made it quite clear, even while a 'consultation' was taking place, where their sympathies lay (Chesterfield Royal Hospital tweets).

I'm not sure when a ban on vaping entered the equation but I've not heard a single 'pro-vaping' advocate oppose the hospital's new policy.

Their silence speaks volumes.

Article originally appeared on Simon Clark (http://taking-liberties.squarespace.com/).
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