MPs banned from vaping in their offices
The Houses of Parliament ban MPs from vaping in their offices.
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by Dave Cross
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In 2014, Labour MP Frank Field proposed an Early Day Motion in support of electronic cigarettes. In it, the proposal “notes the opinion of leading world public health experts, including Professor Robert West of University College” that ecigs have a positive role to play in harm reduction. The signing MPs noted: “inappropriate constraints upon the labelling and sale of e-cigarettes will have the perverse effect of reducing the rate at which cigarette use is declining.”
This followed the news that Sarah Wollaston, the Conservative MP for Totnes, “rejected public health officials' advice that electronic cigarettes should not be used by people who want to give up smoking.” She said: “I think they are a very important addition to the armoury; we have patches and nicotine tablets but they don't suit everybody. If there is a product out there that for some people is going to be better for them, I don't think we should turn our backs on that.”
Gleefully reported in the Daily Mirror, journalist Helen Whitehouse reported that MPs would now have to venture outside the houses when wanting a “fix”. She reports that the motivation for the ban comes from the almost negligible number of incidents of cheap chargers being used incorrectly. Not one to let the opportunity pass to stick the boot in, Whitehouse then goes on to raise the topics of exploding mods and the thoroughly debunked gateway effect.
In March, we reported how Mark Pawsey had formed an all-party support group for ecig users. He said: “I first became interested in e-cigarettes after visiting a local business selling the devices and since that time have become more convinced of their effectiveness as cessation devices to help people quit smoking tobacco.”
Pawsey responded angrily to the ban: “There is no evidence of any dangers posed by second-hand inhalation of e-cigarette vapour, yet a recent ruling of the House of Commons Commission means that members and their staff who have given up tobacco and choose to vape are no longer permitted to do so in their private offices.”
“The use of e-cigarettes is restricted to designated areas outdoors where users of e-cigarettes are exposed to harmful second-hand tobacco smoke,” he continued. “As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for e-cigarettes and keen to stimulate informed debate on these devices, I wonder if we might have a consideration of the consequences of the commission's ruling.”
This contrasts with Australian MP Jeremy Buckingham who vaped while in their Parliament; an action that caused other MPs to call him a “media tart”.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous vape companies to develop content for their websites.
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