English tobacco control plan embraces tobacco harm reduction

The Department of Health (UK/England) today released its tobacco control plan for England: Towards a smoke-free generation: tobacco control plan for England (PDF)

The embrace of vaping and other low-risk alternatives to smoking runs through the text. This is probably the first significant government policy paper anywhere that recognises and pursues the opportunities of tobacco harm reduction, rather than defining these technologies as a threat to be suppressed. For that, the Department of Health and its allies deserve considerable credit.

Here's the PDF link for the document, but in an unusual departure from the villianization of vaping, it specifically notes that any restrictions must be based on actual evidence (something that is lacking in the United States) and specifically that UK's laws against smoking do not apply at all to alternatives like vaping or e-cigarettes, and goes even further urging private company regulations to follow suit.

Considering how successful smoking foes have been at making it increasingly difficult to use the most effective devices to stop smoking (and even worse, forced those who recently quit right next to those who are inducing in the habit they're trying to quit, a bit like making laws requiring AA meetings to be held in open bars...)

Hopefully, this rational report from the UK Department of Health will help unbury the results of the extensive environmental survey conducted on vaping in California which clearly demonstrated virtually no detectable harmful chemicals that could be inhaled second hand, even from the test rig located in a very busy vaping shop (because after all, where better to put a test rig than where people are blowing out clouds... which turned out to be no more detectable than actual clouds.)

I agree that it’s good news, in relation to what you’d normally hear, but a lesser evil is still evil.

The fact is it signifies the government’s continued desire to control people’s behavior. They will tax extra for tobacco in the name of health, and then attempt to control it in the name of health, so they don’t actually have to spend that extra money they raised on health, but on their own government benefits and patronage.

To me, good news would be, “Government’s getting out of your face.” but I fear that will never be in my lifetime as there was only one free country in the world’s history and it didn’t last that long...

Smoking one as I read this.....

I only smoke gluten free, organic,BPA free, natural, probiotic, sugar free, Omega-3 rich, GMO free, sugar free, local sourced, sustainable cigars.....

Therefore I’m OK!

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