Fancy that.
Having kept very quiet when vaping was banned along with smoking on a Pembrokeshire beach, and again when the use of e-cigarettes during work breaks was prohibited by Nottinghamshire County Council, the "pro-vaping" tobacco control group ASH has finally angered even the most gullible vaping activists by declaring that "new EU rules on electronic cigarettes need not cause problems for most vapers".
Concerns raised in Parliament about the EU rules are not borne out by the ASH Smokefree GB Adult Survey [published today].
Only 9% of vapers report using e-liquid containing 19mg/ml or more of nicotine (the limit set by the EU Tobacco Products Directive is 20mg/ml). And only 11% of daily vapers use more than 4ml of liquid (the EU limit for tanks and cartridges is 2ml), indicating that only a small proportion of them are likely to need to refill their device more than twice a day.
The minority of vapers using higher strengths and higher volumes of e-liquid will continue to be able to buy these until 20th May 2017, leaving time for products to evolve to meet their needs.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH said: “The new ASH research shows that most vapers use less nicotine than the limit set in the new EU regulations and are likely to have to refill their devices no more than a couple of times a day. Concerns that the EU regulations would force the products most vapers use off the market seem to have been overstated.”
See New EU rules on nicotine strength not a problem for most vapers (ASH).
Strictly speaking ASH is broadly correct. The overwhelming majority of vapers will not be inconvenienced by TPD regulations. But what the press release reveals - not for the first time - is their complete and utter contempt for consumer choice.
So what if "only" 9 per cent of vapers report using e-liquid containing 19mg/ml or more of nicotine and "only" 11 per cent of daily vapers use more than 4ml of liquid? That's still a significant number of people who will be denied their preferred product.
As readers know I have been extremely cynical of ASH's transformation into the "vapers' friend". Jumping on the bandwagon doesn't even begin to describe it.
I've also been discreetly critical of some of the leading vaping activists (ie I've never named them) who have naively sucked up to Deborah Arnott in the hope she will lead them to the promised land where vapers and public health can live happily ever after.
ASH, I have warned repeatedly, will never be the consumers' friend because they have no interest in or commitment to choice.
For the 500th time, this is not about health, it's about control. In the eyes of ASH e-cigarettes are a smoking cessation tool – nothing more, nothing less – and the quicker consumers move to lower strength, lower volume e-liquids the better because it means they are well on the way to another 'public health' target – a world free of any nicotine dependence, least of all the sort you might actually enjoy.
If ASH's support for TPD regulations on e-cigarettes opens a few eyes today that will be a step forward but this is just the tip of the 'public health' iceberg.
If there is anyone in the tobacco control industry who truly supports vaping as a long-term recreational activity I would be very surprised, but I can guarantee you this.
No-one in 'public health' believes in or supports choice. The concept is anathema to them.
Update: Last week it was reported that "Vaping has been permitted outside Nottingham hospitals, making them the first in England to embrace it."
You would imagine that 'pro-vaping' ASH would have been delighted. If so they concealed it well:
Amanda Sandford, from anti-smoking group ASH, said her group were likely to welcome the news too.
She said: "I think in principle we would support it. There's evidence to show e-cigarettes are helping people to quit smoking.
"E-cigarettes aren't 100 per cent safe and we don't want to be in a situation where there are products that young people are supported to use.
"(But) where people are using them as an alternative to smoking or to quit smoking, we shouldn't put restrictions on their use.
Have you ever heard anything so mealy-mouthed? With 'friends' like that etc.