FEATURE
REPENT AND DO PENANCE
Vape conference hears that Irish smokers feel they must atone for previous bad behaviour when they opt to switch to reduced risk alternatives like vaping .
Words : Patrick Griffin
Irish regulators could do much more than they currently do to help smokers quit according to a leading consumer advocate .
Tom Gleeson , co-founder of New Nicotine Alliance Ireland , said health chiefs recently suggested banning all flavours from general sale and making them available only on prescription .
He told the World Vape Show London : “ There is an attitude here in Ireland that if you ’ re going to quit smoking then you must suffer while you do so .
“ There is a feeling that if smokers want to stop then they must also repent and do penance for their bad behaviour .”
Gleeson warned that the country ’ s vapers must also do more to protect their best interests and to stop the industry being constantly eroded by bad regulation .
The consumer advocate added : “ The biggest threat facing vaping is apathy from consumers themselves . discouraging smokers from quitting and encouraging vapers to go back to cigarettes .
He added : “ The constant negativity from the body parts organisations such as the Heart Foundation , the Lung Foundation and the Cancer Society is definitely having a negative effect on the general public .”
However he was encouraged that the Department of Health had so far been resistant to calls for tighter restrictions such as flavour bans .
He said youth vaping was not a problem in Ireland despite the fact that the country did not have any youth vaping legislation .
Gleeson told the London audience : “ We don ’ t have age limits on vaping in Ireland and yet we have less than one percent of never smokers who vape so I am not sure that this makes much difference .”
“ They ’ ve lost interest . And until there ’ s an immediate threat , it ’ s going to be very hard to motivate consumers to do anything .
“ That , to me , is the biggest threat because it is very hard to motivate people to do anything until it ’ s almost too late and then you are fighting an uphill battle .
“ When new regulations come slowly over time you don ’ t see them creeping up on you and politicians could eventually salami slice their way to a full prohibition if we are not careful .”
He said the most recent annual survey into the state of the nation ’ s health showed that smoking had increased by one percent while vaping had gone down by the same amount .
Gleeson blamed the constant attacks on the vape industry for
There is an attitude here in Ireland that if you ’ re going to quit smoking then you must suffer while you do so .
122 l VM37