NEWS
E-cigarette Ban
Scrapped
in Wales
Controversial plans to
introduce a total ban
on e-cigarettes from all
enclosed public spaces
and workplaces in Wales
have been scrapped
T
he Welsh government now
wants to introduce new
legislation which would only
prohibit vaping from specific
places where there could be a risk
to children - such as schools, public
transport and places where food is
served.
Under the original plans the government
wanted to ban e-cigarettes from all public
spaces in Wales over concerns that
vaping could normalise smoking and act
as a “gateway to tobacco”.
Welsh health minister, Mark Drakeford,
said: “Basically, we have changed our
proposals so that a ban on e-cigarettes
would be put in place in areas where
there is a potential risk to children.”
There was widespread anger at the
original plans which were set out in
the Public Health (Wales) Bill from the
vaping community, civil liberties groups,
health campaigners and the wider public.
Many protestors said that the ban
failed to take into account the fact that
vaping had actually been shown to be
particularly effective in helping people
quit smoking traditional cigarettes.
Amongst those who opposed the
ban was a group of 12 experts from
20 ISSUE 03 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE
universities and the National Centre
for Smoking Cessation and Training
who wrote to Welsh Assembly saying
that there was no evidence to justify
the legislation.
The Welsh governme nt now
wants to introduce new
legislation which would
only prohibit vaping from
specific places where
there could be a risk to
children - such as schools,
public transport and places
where food is served.
The leader of the Liberal Democrats in
Wales, Kirsty Williams said:
“For a bill that claims to address public
health, some of Wales’s biggest health
concerns – obesity, diabetes, air
quality, heart disease – don’t even get a
mention. Labour’s poverty of ambition for
the health of our nation is shocking.
“The truth is that as it’s currently drafted,
this bill won’t improve public health.
If anything, it will have exactly the
opposite effect thanks to Labour’s illthought out vaping ban. Welsh Liberal
Democrats will not support any bill that
includes this ban.”
The Welsh Conservative spokesman on
health, Darren Millar, said: “Introducing
this ban would be a huge step
backwards for smoking cessation and
efforts to improve public health.
“Labour ministers are misguided in
their war on e-cigarettes. There is no
evidence supporting their plans and they
should be ditched. We should be giving
people a helping hand to quit smoking –
not placing obstacles in their way.”
Welsh Health Minister Mark Drakeford
had planned to bring restrictions on
vaping into line with the current smoking
ban by the end of 2016.
He said he would now introduce
amendments to the bill at a later date
which would “define more precisely”
the places where vaping would be
prohibited.