To want the advertising of e-cigs banned

[Singsongsungagain]

I'll set my stall out from the off here. I have no time for smoking. I find it smelly, disgusting and of no benefit to anyone other than the fat cat tobacco company directors. I was delighted with the smoking ban and all of the limits that have been imposed on advertising and packaging etc, feeling that the world will be a healthier place for my children with the least amount of smoking possible. I'm all for a complete ban- although I appreciate the complexities of that.
But now it seems we have this new wave of e-cig promotion and personally I've been disappointed to see the TV adverts- which include the word "cigarettes". Surely this is a backward step in the promotion of a healthy nation?
I've just been reading an article from The Independent in which various well educated scientists, doctors etc have stated that there is now evidence that e-cigs damage cells. They are NOT a healthy alternative to smoking, and yet they are being promoted on our TVs in the same way that conventional cigarettes once were.
AIBU to think that e-cigs should be subject to the same regulations as conventional cigarettes?

[Singsongsungagain]

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/e-cigarettes-vaping-no-better-than-smoking-regular-cigarettes-a6790266.html

[GunningforISIS]

YANBU to dislike smoking and therefore not smoke; YANBU to dislike e-cigarettes and therefore not use them.

YABU to want to ban anything because you dislike it.

Tell me, you're a leftie, correct?

[ginmakesitallok]

However, Dr Wang-Rodriguez stressed that the results may not replicate the processes in the human body, as the amount of vapour used was "similar to someone smoking for hours on end".

Vaping is much much safer than smoking. Smoking will kill 50% of smokers. There is no evidence that vaping will kill anyone. Yabu

[CallieTorres]

"There is no evidence that vaping will kill anyone" .....yet....

[goodnightdarthvader1]

I agree. I also have no time for smoking. "Here, cultivate this lifelong habit that will make you smell foul, stain your teeth and hands, cost you shitloads of money and increase your risk of developing COPD and lung cancer. But it makes you 'look cool', apparently."

E-cigs are touted as the lesser of two evils. If you're using it to help you quit smoking altogether, fine. If you're using it as a replacement, ugh.

[WorraLiberty]

They're still advertising cars and many other things that pollute the environment, so I can't get fussed about them advertising something that helps so many people give up smoking.

I don't think the adverts should be 'glamorous' though.

They should be advertised in the same way that nicotine gum and patches are. Which is rather boring really.

[SleepyForest]

I support vaping as a quitting mechanism. But it shouldn't be advertised. And it shouldn't be allowed indoors like smoking.

[Junosmum]

I think callie has hit the nail on the head.

Vaping is so new, we genuinely don't know the long term effects of it. I personally don't smoke or vape, but don't take away someones right or decision to do so, it is personal choice. And if vaping is safer than smoking than great- the fewer people dying from preventable disease is great. However we don't know that it is, it is presumed to be safer, independent studies are only just being conducted and most won't be published for a while. Until we know, I think we should proceed with cautious optimism.

[catfordbetty]

Ex-smokers who are now vaping need to be left alone - the huge balance of probabilities indicate this is the much safer option. I am worried, though, that e-cig promotion will recruit a new generation of nicotine addicts who have never smoked tobacco.

[DickDewy]

I agree that as a device to help quit smoking, they are useful.

However, several of my ds friends (17 year olds) use them having never smoked. They seem to be using them as a device to break them into smoking

So for that reason, I don't like to see them advertised.

[Steben]

I think yabu to be honest - you might not like it but I don't like people eating meat (veggie) but I don't want that banned/stopped from advertising even though too much processed meat consumption contributes to various illnesses. Similarly alcohol. If you don't like something that is fine but I can't stand it when people insist on pushing those beliefs/thoughts on others.

[DyslexicScientist]

Yet NHS will start funding these shortly.

The same companies that make cigarettes make e cigs. Quelle surprise.

[DyslexicScientist]

Someone in my office uses one of these devices in the lunch room . its horrid.

[ginmakesitallok]

There is no evidence to date that non smokers are taking up vaping. If they take up vaping instead of smoking then that is a good thing. Ive vaped for over 2 years now- had half a cig in that time. I'd smoked for over 20 years, smoking about 30 a day when I finally stopped. I'm cutting down my nicotine levels, though as nicotine is about as harmful as caffeine I'm not that bothered about going nic free.

Vaping has saved my life. I haven't had a cold or chest infection in 2 years. I don't smell, my children aren't subjected to second hand smoke, I'm not out of breath.

[ginmakesitallok]

Dyslexic- the majority of ecigs aren't made by big tobacco. Big tobacco are likely to be the only ones who can afford to get their products licenced because of the tobacco directive coming in next year.

[MrsGentlyBenevolent]

Tell me, you're a leftie, correct?

Hey - I'm a 'leftie' for the most part, not all of us want to ban everything that even the tiniest bit bad for us!

No, we don't know the full positive/negative effects of vaping, but it must be a better alternative to smoking? It needs to be regulated better, but I see no harm in advertising an item that may reduce actual smoking - or would you like nicotine patches and such to not be advertised either? Those Stoptober ads aways set off my smoking cravings, maybe ban those as well. Might as well ban advertising other things that we don't know has health impacts or not, due to being only a few years in use. Mobile phones, Wi-Fi, long term computer use etc. Oh and Mcdonalds adverts, and all alcohol. And car adverts - we know they cause harm, why advertise their use? Or is it just things on your personal agenda that should be banned?

[Singsongsungagain]

The effects of passive smoking are well known- smoking really isn't an individual choice, it's a choice that affects others too.
One of the issues I have with vaping is the normalisation of the act of smoking. I've seen people in the school playground vaping whilst surrounded by children watching them. That can't be acceptable surely?

[MamaLazarou]

"I don't think the adverts should be 'glamorous' though.

They should be advertised in the same way that nicotine gum and patches are. Which is rather boring really."

Couldn't agree more.

[ginmakesitallok]

And why would a vaper move to smoking?? (Unless of course folk keep spreading nonsense about how vaping is the same as smoking and new regulations do away with flavours and make them more expensive)

[ginmakesitallok]

Vaping normalises vaping. Smoking normalises smoking.

[DyslexicScientist]

Are you sure gin?

I know they didn't to start with but they srw taking very e CIG companies and launching their own brands.

www.drugfree.org/join-together/tobacco-companies-move-into-e-cigarette-business/

[BeezerBubble]

Marketing of ecigs is already strictly controlled by the ASA and as from May 2016 will be banned altogether by the EU TPD art 20.
As for that shite in the Independant et al the research could be summed up as saying (already cancerous) cells which die within 24 hours when subjected to tobacco extract live for 8 weeks when subjected to vapour.
That's not just my opinion but the opinion of the Chief Scientist at a UK cancer charity.
No coincidence a paper that was published in November is hyped right at the time many smokers try to quit. And the research facility is funded by Pfizer.

[Singsongsungagain]

I should add, the decision to ban the advertising and promotion of smoking has already been taken, and the rates of smoking dropped significantly at the time. I'm not sure why some people want to turn this into a discussion about "banning everything unhealthy". My OP is about whether e-cigs should have comparable restrictions as, according to the article in The Independent, new research suggests that their harmfulness is comparable.
The fact that the word "cigarettes" is once again appearing as part of an advert on TV surely can't be a good thing?

[MumofAAndE]

YANBU.
WHO are against them & summarise their (many) concerns if you go to the website. Tobacco industry is increasingly taking over that market and that is unlikely to be purely about alternative income. I'm surprised they are advertised

[ginmakesitallok]

Yes I'm sure