A new report from The Freedom Association's 'Freedom to Vape' campaign highlights the shocking ignorance in town halls across the UK. (A similar report was published in November 2016. Click here to read it)
A clear majority of councils refuse to listen to advice issued from Public Health England, repeated in the Department of Health's Tobacco Control Plan, which recommends that e-cigarette use is not covered by smokefree legislation and should not routinely be included in the requirements of an organisation’s smokefree policy.
Most councils are ignoring evidence from the Royal College of Physicians that e-cigarettes are at least 95 per cent safer than smoking combustible tobacco, and almost three quarters of councils are not planning on allowing councillors a say.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT |
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In total, 391 councils responded to our freedom of information requests - a successful response rate of just under 94 per cent. The key findings of this research show that:
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CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT |
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After reading the report, Clive Bates, Director at Counterfactual Consulting, and former director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), commented:
“The message to councils is ‘think before you ban’. When people are vaping, it’s almost always because they’ve quit smoking, cut down or are trying to quit. Given it’s barely noticeable in most situations, maybe councils should stop treating vapers like pariahs, get behind their efforts to quit smoking, and consider the effect of forcing them back outside with the smokers".
Mark Pawsey MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for E-Cigarettes, said: “E-cigarettes are an incredibly effective tool for smokers looking to quit. Many organisations, including councils, erred on the side of caution when this new technology came on to the market but as repeated studies have shown vaping is considerably safer than smoking. If the only way a smoker can quit is through the use of an e-cigarette we should do all we can to assist those efforts, not hinder them.
“Public Health England have stated that e-cigarettes are 95% safer than tobacco and the Government made the positive decision to feature them in this year’s Stoptober campaign so the tide is certainly turning. I would hope that councils would look again at their policies and ensure that vapers are not treated in the same way as smokers thus jeopardising their chances of giving up tobacco for good”.
Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns at The Freedom Association and the report's author, said: "Many councils have gone backwards, retreating to their bunkers rather than listening to advice from Public Health England and the Royal College of Physicians. E-cigarettes are the number one stop smoking aid in the UK. Councils should be encouraging and promoting vaping as a successful way to stop smoking. An overwhelming majority of councils need to accept that their policies are out of date and urgently review them". |
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Media Contact |
| To discuss this report and to arrange broadcast interviews, contact: Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns, The Freedom Association Email: [email protected] Tel: 07803 741104 |