Workers Sacked For Vaping!
A shocking new study reveals workers in the UK are being sacked for vaping.
A total of 13 employees say it’s happened to them and that could be just the tip of the iceberg.
The study was carried out by our friends over at the excellent E-cigarette Direct, and also shows that over 75% of vapers are forbidden from vaping in the workplace.
Not only that, a total of 224 vapers say they have been both discriminated against and in some cases bullied for the ‘crime’ of vaping!
As we know, there are NO laws in the UK to prevent vaping indoors or outdoors and that includes places of work.
I wrote about this issue back in 2019 after a group of UK MPs said vaping at work should be allowed and all outdoor vape bans should be dropped.
That article was on the back of a report by All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping [APPG].
It called for a new vaping in the work place policy with 5 key points – none of which as yet have been implemented:
- Workplace vaping policies should balance the needs of vapers and smokers looking to switch with those of non-vapers.
- Employers should have a workplace policy which permits vaping outdoors and makes provision for easily-accessible indoor vaping areas.
- The Parliamentary Estate must lead the way and act as an example to other workplaces and public places by becoming vape friendly.
- Public Health England should work to educate employers and owners of public places of the positive public health potential of vaping.
- Vapers should vape in a responsible way
It seems employees are ignoring the current laws and making rules up as they go along.
James Dunworth, Chairman of E-Cigarette Direct, said:
Vaping in the workplace is a little-explored area so we devised our study to help understand the challenges faced by vapers in the working world, and gather data to help employers make informed decisions to aid staff retention, health and morale.
It is quite shocking to learn people have actually lost their jobs due to vaping. It is also concerning many people have experienced bullying and discrimination.
Vaping in the workplace is a little-explored area so we devised our study to help understand the challenges faced by vapers in the working world, and gather data to help employers make informed decisions to aid staff retention, health and morale.
We spend at least a third of our waking lives at work and our working environment has a huge influence on our health and happiness – so these issues are hugely significant for people who wish to vape while at work.
Vapers should not be required to use the same space as smokers, as this could undermine their ability to quit smoking and stay smokefree, particularly among those most heavily addicted.
The study shows that any workplace forcing vapers to the same areas as smokers are in effect contravening UK Government Guidelines that states:
…vapers should not be required to use the same space as smokers, as this could undermine their ability to quit smoking and stay smokefree, particularly among those most heavily addicted.
Among the recommendations, the study calls for:
We recommend that employers consider a dedicated vaping policy which clearly distinguishes smoking from vaping.
While not every employer will want to allow vaping in the general workplace, creating a dedicated, indoor vaping area could help smoking cessation rates, reduce the risk of relapsing to smoking and improve employee morale, reduce anxiety and aid staff retention.
To alleviate anxiety amongst non-vapers, it’s also worth providing guidelines for vapers.
This could include recommending the use of low-powered devices which produce smaller amounts of vapour, or blowing vapour down instead of into the room.
Let’s hope the provisions are clarified in the next TRPR…
Flavoured Vapes Help Kids Quit Smoking
A controversial new UK study suggests kids that smoke could quit using flavoured e-cigarettes.
Like it or lump it there’s still a hardcore group of teen smokers out there and scientists say encouraging them to use less harmful flavoured vapes will get them off the killer habit.
The study was carried out by the team from the University of East Anglia [UEA] and looked at the smoking habits of half a million under 18-year-olds.
The results show that weaning child smokers off lit tobacco with flavoured e-liquids worked and also showed no signs of kids reverting back to lit tobacco.
In other words, there’s NO gateway effect, as in vaping in adolescence leads to smoking in later life.
Lead researcher Professor Prof Caitlin Notley, said:
There has been a lot of concern that young people may start vaping because they are attracted to e-liquid flavours, and that it could potentially lead them to start smoking tobacco.
We wanted to find out more about the links between vape flavours, the uptake of vaping among young people, and whether it leads to regular vaping and, potentially, tobacco smoking.
Flavours may be an important motivator for e-cigarette uptake – but we found no evidence that using flavoured e-liquids attracted young people to go on to take up tobacco smoking.
Ensuring the continued availability of a range of e-liquid flavours is likely to be important in encouraging young people who smoke to switch to vaping as a less harmful alternative.
It goes without saying no one is suggesting none smoking teens should take up vaping, but for those that are smoking, vaping is the safest and best way out.
Read the full study: Youth Use of E-Liquid Flavours – A systematic review exploring patterns of use of e liquid flavours and associations with continued vaping, tobacco smoking uptake, or cessation
Vaping NOT Essential Says US Government
The ridiculous new vape tax has been passed by the US Government and a leading politician says it will stay because vaping isn’t essential for ‘hard working families’.
The remark was made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the Build Back Better tax was rubber stamped last week.
It now means HUGE rises in all things vape and could mean $5 slapped on a 30ml bottle of e-liquid and $2 per vape pod.
As I wrote in the Vape News back in September, this could be the final killer blow to the US vaping industry, given the current PMTA process.
The FDA has already banned over 4 million vape products from sale, and this new tax could wipe out what’s left.
It is of course the so called ‘hard working families’ that have stopped smoking via vaping, and could now be forced back to the killer habit.
A spokesman for Pelosi said:
Unlike the gas tax hike Republicans tried to add to the infrastructure bill, vaping is not an essential need for working families, and there is significant evidence tobacco companies are targeting health-damaging vape products at teens.
The bill simply ensures that the nicotine in traditional tobacco products and the nicotine in e-cigarettes is taxed at the same rate.
Amanda Wheeler, President of the American Vapor Manufacturers, said the tax would certainly push vapers back to smoking adding:
Speaker Pelosi is wrong on the math, wrong on the science, and apparently has not even read the government’s own estimates of the public health disaster this vape tax will cause.
It’s really quite simple, if the US Government is keen to stop people smoking, then vape products should be made widely available and be cheaper than lit tobacco.
Crazy criminal times we live in.
Advocates Announce ‘Good COP, Bad COP’ Awards
Guest Post From sCOPe
With the international tobacco control conference COP9 now over, Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) advocates have handed out their ‘Good COP, Bad COP’ awards.
The awards follow THR experts and consumer advocates organising a global live stream from 8 to 12 November during COP9 – the 9th Conference of Parties for the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Dubbed sCOPe, the round-the-clock YouTube simulcast attracted significant attention, adding to increasing international pressure on the WHO to embrace safer nicotine products, not demonise them.
Nancy Loucas from CAPHRA (Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates) says sCOPe gave a voice to leading consumer advocates who were shut out of COP9.
The focus, however, must now move to preparing for COP10 in 2023 where harm reduced products will be a key discussion for delegates.
Nancy says:
Those of us passionate about safer nicotine products must reach out to the likes of public health officials and influencers.
We need to humanise this debate and show how vaping has saved the lives of millions of ex-smokers.
sCOPe’s Good COP awards:
The ‘Wow, Someone’s Actually Telling Us What’s Going On’ Award went to COPWATCH for getting on the inside and giving the world real-time insights online.
The ‘Give The Man A Cigar’ Award went to Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary, Teodoro Locsin Jr, for standing up to COP9 delegates.
The ‘I am the Evidence’ Award went to passionate US consumer advocate and sCOPe panellist, Liana Hudspeth.
sCOPe’s Bad COP awards:
The ‘You Shouldn’t Really Say That About Yourself’ Award goes to FCTC Head, Dr Adriana Blanco Marquizo, for her very bizarre ‘How industry weaponizes science’
The ‘Our Proposal Won’t Do A Thing But Delegates Loved It’ Award went to Iran, whose government holds a sizable stake in its domestic tobacco industry.
The ‘Where The Hell Is Wally’ Award went to WHO sponsor, anti-vape crusader, and American billionaire Michael Bloomberg for trading in COP9 and flying to Glasgow’s glitzy, high-profile COP26.
To view the two sCOPe wrap-up discussions with leading THR consumer advocates, and the ‘Good COP, Bad COP’ awards, check out the video: sCOPe Livestream Review AP/Europe
Watch sCOPe’s five days of presentations and panel discussions.
Now live and boasting over 14,000 testimonials, CAPHRA is calling on those who’ve quit cigarettes through smoke-free nicotine alternatives to tell their story on www.righttovape.org
——————-
More vape news on Wednesday…
