No Smoking, it's Stoptober

For the last few years, since the UK smoking ban in public buildings, smokers have been banished outside when they wish to light up.  Often in the winter I see them huddled together outside of buildings, discussing business, office politics or just generally gossiping.  They appear not to be feeling the cold.  As a non-smoker I often wondered if smoking in some way made you forget the cold temperatures by building up some sort of endurance within you body.

Fortuitously, there may be an alternative for smokers who are banished outside!  The electronic cigarette or e-cigarette or vaporiser, are becoming ever more popular for smokers who wish to reduced their nicotine intake or give up completely.  Whatever your choice of name, the e-cigarette which was meant to help smokers is now as controversial as the regular cigarette.

Since e-cigarettes do not give off any smoke, should employees and visitors to public buildings be allowed to use them inside? The main reason for non-smoking in public buildings was due to the passive smoking risk element.

If e-cigarettes are banned inside public buildings, what is a reasonable justification for this?  Reasons given by some companies who have banned the use of e-cigarettes inside are around the fact that it is not the impression they wish to portray as a company or, it is difficult to distinguish between e-cigarettes and normal cigarettes and therefore a ban on all types of cigarettes is warranted. As PAs do you agree with these reasons?  Would it bother you if you went to the bank/post office or some other public building and were served by staff using e-cigarettes? What are the rules in your office?

In addition to the views as to their use inside or outside, there is now the argument over their safety from a health perspective.  Manufacturers, distributers and marketers have promoted e-cigarettes as being the healthy alternative to cigarettes.  However, research is now showing that some e-cigarettes contain carcinogenic chemicals that make some as harmful as normal tobacco.  This is a claim made by a new study in France.  The French Government have announced plans to ban e-cigarettes in public places.  Should this happen here?

Whatever your views on smoking, e-cigarettes appear not to be as safe as originally thought and further research is being carried out into their safety.

For smokers who are trying to give up, it’s not too late to register and take part in the “Stoptober” campaign which is a UK-wide initiative in October each year, encouraging smokers to give up.  It provides resources, advice and support.  The link to the official website: https://stoptober.smokefree.nhs.uk/

Yvette Squire FAPA