After seeing the good news about the potential de-regulation of parts of the new law regarding e-cigarettes, it seems as though the UK government has gone even further and suggested that employees at work should be allowed to vape.
The best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking. However, the evidence is increasingly clear that e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful to health than smoking tobacco. The government will seek to support consumers in stopping smoking and adopting the use of less harmful nicotine products. Public Health England has produced guidance for employers and organisations looking to introduce policies around e cigarettes and vaping in public and recommend such policies to be evidence-based.
PHE recommends that e-cigarette use is not covered by smokefree legislation and should not routinely be included in the requirements of an organisation’s smokefree policy. In addition there has been the development and very recent introduction of novel tobacco products that claim to reduce the harm of smoking. We welcome innovation that will reduce the harms caused by smoking and will evaluate whether products
such as novel tobacco products have a role to play in reducing the risk of harm to smokers.
This is the strongest sign of support that the UK government has shown for e-cigarettes thus far. The strong support is without a doubt backed by the recent Public Health England study showing that e-cigarettes are around 95% less harmful than smoking tobacco.
