Today, The Times journalist Matt Ridley has expressed why he feels the upcoming TPD will be detrimental to the country’s heath.
Ridley discusses how the new rules on e-cigarettes will contradict the previous stance our government has had on harm reduction when it comes to managing addiction to harmful substances, making it more difficult for nicotine users to move away from traditional tobacco products to less harmful electronic alternatives, “If public health experts can see the success of exchanging dirty needles in the fight against IV and hepatitis C, why can so few of them see the benefits of exchanging dirty tobacco smoke for clean nicotine vapour?”
Ridley also believes that this attitude towards e-cigarettes could even result in a hostile reaction from vapers, who may even go so far as to vote to leave the EU in the upcoming referendum in protest to the stringent new rules.
Interestingly, Ridley sites his belief that public health officials’ anti- e-cig stance could come from their “irritation” that the private sector has succeeded in making a significant dent in smoker numbers without their input.
