Vape bans stop smokers from taking up vaping and a new study proves the New Nicotine Alliance has been right all along.
The NNA has long campaigned to stop companies and local councils from lumping vaping in with the same ‘legislation’ as smoking – despite the true fact there is NO law that can be used to ban vaping indoors or out.
We have come a long way in getting vaping accepted by the wider public, but as always it’s 1 step forward and two steps back.
As I reported in the Midweek Vape News, despite the NHS and in particular the Royal College of Physicians stating vaping should be allowed on all NHS premises, one NHS Trust has banned it completely from its grounds.
Hampshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has decided to ban smoking and vaping from October this year, a move that goes against the grain of current UK Government and indeed NHS thinking.
Now the NNA has written a fiery blog post doubling down on its long-time claim that:
…bans on vaping in public and private places are harmful to the success that use of safer nicotine products can provide for the benefit of the public’s health.
New Study Proves the NNA Has Been Right All Along!
Now a new study from scientists at Indiana University School of Public Health, adds scientific weight to the NNA’s stance.
Researchers looked at 240,849 adults aged between 18-59 and the results were conclusive. Adult smokers living in an area where vape bans existed were LESS likely to consider quitting by vaping.
The study concluded:
Adults living in the states with an aerosol-free policy (including vaping in legislative smoking bans) were less likely to use ENDS (e-cigarettes) compared with those living in the states without an aerosol-free policy, controlling for individual- and state-level covariates (adjusted odds ratio = 0.79, 95% confidence interval = 0.64, 0.97).
Stratified analyses showed that the association varied by age group; the statewide aerosol-free policies was associated with lower odds of ENDS use only in adults aged 25-59 but not young adults (aged 18-24).
In simpler terms the NNA says the results show:
…where comprehensive vaping bans apply, adult smokers are less likely to take up vaping as an alternative.
Now that’s quite shocking to say the least – but again something that common sense tells us is a probable outcome of the public seeing vaping lumped in with smoking, with either outright bans or vapers forced to congregate in public with smokers.
The NNA says:
The most accessible message that the public sees about vaping is when a venue they frequent states that e-cigarettes are banned just about everywhere and treated the same as cigarettes.
The subliminal take from that will always be that it is harmful both to vapers and those around them, and that there is no benefit to be derived from switching to a safer product.
No amount of stressing the safer nature of vaping from public health groups will ever be as powerful an opinion-former to the general public as a prohibitive and dramatic “no vaping” sign or announcement on a public tannoy.
This unintentional and irresponsible implied negative messaging needs addressing urgently, and this new research emphasises just how damaging it is.
Absolutely.
Help Stop the Vape Bans!
The NNA is now calling on the movers and shakers within public health to tackle ‘lazy’ vape bans and want to see the UK continue as a global leader in tobacco harm reduction through vaping and other alternative products:
We have a great opportunity in the UK to drive global acceptance of reduced-risk products like e-cigarettes. To do that, it is incumbent on those in public health who are amenable to vaping – if they are serious – to redouble efforts towards recognising the threat of vaping bans and actively objecting to them.
This latest research succinctly shows that bans on vaping in public venues are an obstacle to adult smokers switching.
It agrees with the NNA’s consistent messaging that bans are harmful and is now officially recorded in the literature.
We hope that those in public health who believe in harm reduction will take this more seriously and dedicate resources to tackle the threat of bans which have no evidential, moral or health-related justification.
As I said in my piece Changing Those UK Pub Vape Bans One Bar At A Time Through “Considerate Vaping” – we’re all vaping advocates to some degree and by joining the NNA’s Challenging Prohibition campaign, we can all do our bit to stop the slow creep of vape bans.
Grab some stickers and take them to your local pub or place of work and start the conversation, especially as we now have science on our side 😉
Find out more about the work of the New Nicotine Alliance and donate here.
