An article in the Birmingham Mail states that London Midland has "launched a new campaign to stamp out anti-social behaviour and it could see passengers facing prosecution for breaking new railway by-laws. Commuters caught putting their feet on seats or vaping could end up in court."

It's time for Network Rail and all train operating companies, not just London Midland, to change their e-cigarette policies. As I understand it (and if I am wrong, I will happily make a correction) the existing railway byelaws do not cover e-cigarettes. Take a look for yourself.

At this year's Freedom Festival in Bournemouth, I chaired a panel discussion on vaping where I asked the following question: "Has science beaten smoking?" Joining me on the panel were Martin Cullip, Blogger; Angela Harbutt, Development Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA); and Chris Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at the IEA. 

A new study has found that "regulations on electronic cigarettes may impact their effectiveness as a smoking cessation tool". Tell me something I don't know. The EU's Tobacco Products Directive has created reams of paperwork that make the production of some e-liquids uneconomical. Reducing the maximum size of e-liquid bottles to a measly 10 ml, means e-liquid is going to be more expensive. It should go without saying that if more burdens are placed on an industry, the less competitive it is going to be. If products start costing more, fewer people are going to buy them. In the case of e-cigarettes this means their effectiveness as a smoking cessation tool is going to be weakened. 

As this new study published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research highlights, those countries that are actively hostile towards vaping and vapers have a lower take-up. As I have said in the title of this post, there are times when you have to state the bleeding obvious.