Writing for Brexit Central, Andrew Allison explains why the restrictions imposed on vapers and the vaping industry by the European Union's Tobacco Products Directive, should be scrapped. 

"The e-cigarette market was, until recently, perhaps the closest thing we had to a genuine free market. A relative lack of regulation, compared to what it is now, allowed the market to innovate in ways we seldom see. 

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. 

An adult walks into a corner shop and asks for a packet of cigarettes. They name the brand they want and then pay for them. They walk out and light up. Does this sound like a perfectly legal activity to you? But what if the person who bought the cigarettes had never smoked before? Do you think the shopkeeper should have asked beforehand and refused to sell them cigarettes if they were going to smoke them for the first time? 

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.