Should vaping be treated the same as smoking?

Unlike smoking, rules on vaping vary between venues. While smoking is banned indoors everywhere, e cigarettes are allowed in some pubs, cafes and restaurants.

The discussion was prompted when officers amended their draft statement of licensing policy to say vaping ‘isn’t unlawful, just treated in the same way as smoking’.

But Coun Otten said this was unfair. He said: “It’s my view that vaping should generally be allowed on the premises and therefore vapers don’t have to stand outside in the shelter and breathe in second-hand smoke to the detriment of their health and causing noise to the detriment of neighbours.”

Other committee members disagreed.

Coun Mick Rooney said: "You can’t smoke on a bus and you can’t vape on a bus, similarly on a train, so I would not support an option where we are at odds with large sections of society.

"One of the reasons I’m against allowing vaping in an enclosed area is because it’s largely unstudied. Nobody really knows what the long term effects of vaping are, clearly it’s not as dangerous as smoking because a lot of the toxic byproducts of smoking aren't there. But what vaping does is actually prolong an addiction.

"If anyone thinks vaping is harmless, it isn’t. It doesn't solve the problem of addiction."

Coun Cliff Woodcraft added: "Life is really quite complicated for many people these days with different rules applying to different situations and I think to have an alignment with bans on public transport it should be banned elsewhere. It just gets too complicated to follow the rules."

NHS England state on their website: "Research into [vaping] is ongoing, but it seems e-cigs release negligible amounts of nicotine into the atmosphere and the limited evidence available suggests any risk from passive vaping to bystanders is small relative to tobacco cigarettes.

"In England, the Government has no plans to ban vaping indoors (although some employers have banned them in the workplace) but some health professionals recommend avoiding using them around pregnant women, babies and children."

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