MPs SPARK BACKLASH OVER E-CIGS

Fury over call to allow vaping devices on prescription

A ROW erupted last night over a hugely controversial call by MPs to relax rules surrounding e-cigarettes. They said ministers should conduct an urgent review to make it easier to get the devices on prescription.

And they said bans on vaping in public places – such as in hospitals, restaurants or on buses – should be reconsidered.

however, leading scientists called the report by the Commons science and technology committee ‘one-sided’.

They accused the MPs of largely taking evidence from researchers who had published studies positive to e-cigarettes and of ignoring evidence highlighting health risks. The MPs also want the tobacco industry to be given greater freedom to advertise the devices as a less harmful option for smokers.

e-cigarette makers are currently banned from making any health claims for their products in advertising. The

report claimed that widespread concerns that e-cigarettes acted as a gateway to conventional smoking, particularly for the young, had ‘not materialised’.

It comes despite a string of reports – including one this week from British scientists – warning that e-cigarette vapour can cause lung damage.

Earlier this year, a panel of lung experts described vaping as a ‘one-way bridge’ to smoking tobacco and said it could spark a health crisis in decades to come.

Scientists claimed the committee had been swayed by the vaping industry. Simon Capewell, Professor in Public Health and Policy at Liverpool University, said: ‘The committee has concentrated solely on “experts” who are e-cig champions.

‘More balanced reviews of the evidence by the World Health Organisation, [US] Food and Drug Administration have concluded that e-cigs are no better for quitting smoking than things like nicotine gum, patches or tablets.

‘E-cigs in teens are a gateway to subsequent smoking lit cigarettes and e-cig vapour contains a large number of toxins which in time will obviously harm users, and bystanders.’

Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: ‘It is simply impossible to know how safe a product is when it has only been used widely for a relatively short time.’

E-cigarettes, which first went on sale in the UK in 2007, have been at the centre of controversy over whether they really are a safe alternative to smoking. Around 2.9million in the UK use the devices, with around 470,000 using them to stop smoking.

Last month, anti-tobacco campaigners called on the Government to act to prevent a new kind of e-cigarette from taking off among children, as it has done already in the United States. The Juul vape pens offer flavours such as mango and glacier mint.

In March this year health officials said the long-term health impact of e-cigarettes ‘was still developing’ and there was ‘little evidence’ of their effectiveness or safety as medicinal products.

Several reports have highlighted how ecigarettes still have negative health effects. These include increasing the risk of the lung condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung damage and infection.

Nicotine – which is contained in e-cigarettes – is itself an addictive substance that increases heart rate and blood pressure.

The World Health Organisation is among bodies to call for stiff regulation of e-cigarettes and bans on their indoor use. However, Public Health England claimed recently that e-cigarettes are ‘95 per cent safer’ than conventional smoking.

That claim is repeated in today’s report, which said: ‘Regulations should be relaxed relating to e-cigarettes licensing, prescribing and advertising of their health benefits.’

Chairman Norman Lamb added: ‘If used correctly, e-cigarettes could be a key weapon in the NHS stop-smoking arsenal.’

The committee said that while ‘uncertainties’ remained about the long-term health impact of the devices, they presented ‘an opportunity to significantly accelerate already declining smoking rates’.

Following a consultation on e-cigarettes in late 2014 the Scottish Government introduced regulations under the Health Bill. The Bill, passed in 2016, bans the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s and makes it illegal to smoke in parts of hospital grounds.

It also restricts the way e-cigarettes are advertised and requires any shop selling nicotine vapour products to join a register.

Scotland was the last country in mainland Britain to introduce a ban for under-18s.

Cancer Research UK said any changes to current regulations should be aimed at helping smokers to quit while preventing young people from starting to use e-cigarettes.

The science and technology committee said it has considered evidence from more than 90 organisations including a range of academics, NHS professionals and Government departments.

John Dunne, for the UK Vaping Industry Association, said the report was a ‘ringing endorsement of vaping’s public health potential’.