“Are vaping products safe?”

Nothing really is ever ”100% safe”, but we do know for sure that vaping is far less harmful than smoking lit tobacco.

In August of 2015 Public Health England published a report in which experts estimated vaping products to be 95% less harmful than smoking.

You can read the press release that accompanied that report here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/e-cigarettes-around-95-less-harmful-than-tobacco-estimates-landmark-review

“Are the products currently regulated?”

E-cigarettes and vaping is currently regulated in Europe under the EU Tobacco Products Directive 2016

Furthermore, there are a number of upcoming measures that will be coming into force this year. These include a change in the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) rules to cover the advertising of vaping products, a licensing system for vendors, and the Tobacco Products Directive.

“Why is there such strong opposition to these products?”

This is a rather difficult question to answer, but there could be a number of reasons:

• some may have a misunderstanding of what the products are or what they contain
• some may be ideologically opposed to the use of nicotine in any form
• some may not trust or agree with a nicotine product that did not hail from the pharmaceutical industry
• some may not understand the relative safety of vaping compared to smoking
• some may be under the mistaken belief that they are solely made by tobacco companies

 “Is ‘second hand’ vapour harmful to bystanders?”

The vapour exhaled by users may look a bit like smoke, but it’s most definitely not smoke.

There have been a number of studies conducted on ”second hand vapour” and the findings point to exhaled vapour being of no significant risk to bystanders.

“Can I use my vaping device anywhere?”

Although the Dept of Health last year took the view that they not be included in the indoor public space smoking ban, it’s always best to be polite, use common sense, and ask first.

There are a number of public places that have restrictions on vaping, and a number of airlines also prohibit their use on board planes.

We hope to add an updated list to this site in the future.