I was recently invited by Cancer Research UK to take part in
an eCig Briefing they were holding at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff Bay. I knew
it was happening some time ago because one of the speakers is somebody with
whom I have regular contact – one Prof Linda Bauld of Stirling University.
However, I was still rather surprised to be invited to participate in the event
by CRUK.
So, on a bright sunny morning (yes, we do sometimes get
those in Wales), I drove down to Cardiff Bay to have a look-see and, if
necessary, put a vaping perspective on the conversations that were going to
happen.
On arriving at the Assembly Buildings, I immediately spotted
Linda just inside the doorway and so walked in introduced myself. Although I
often speak with Linda across Twitter, this was the first time for me to
actually meet her in person. After a pre-meeting chin-wag, we made our way into
the Conference Room for the Briefing.
Entering the Conference Room, I could already see that it
was filled with many from the ‘Tobacco Control Industry’. Several of these
people I have met on previous occasions in other Conferences or face-to-face
meetings. However, I didn’t have clue who many of the others were, so was quite
surprised to be instantly recognised by many in the room. This either means
that I am doing something very right or very wrong. I choose to believe the
former. However way one looks at it, the fact that I am instantly recognised in
such meetings does show that the message I, and many other vaping
advocates, are saying is hitting home with these people.
Exchanging pleasantries with people and doing some light
networking, the room gradually filled up with more and more people. I was
disappointed not so see more Assembly Members attending the briefing, but I
amongst the throng I did manage to spot Labour AM Mike Hedges (who happens to
be my constituency AM). I also spotted David Rees AM (the Chair of the Health
& Social Care Committee whom I had met two weeks previously). I think David
was a little surprised to see me there, but nevertheless he acknowledged me and
said Hello with a smile. Finally, at the back of the room I believe I did spot
Plaid Cymru’s Health spokeswomen (and ecig supporter) Elin Jones.
The Briefing was only scheduled for 90 minutes duration,
with much material to get through, so it commenced almost precisely on 8am. The
meeting was kicked off with a brief introduction by John Griffiths (a Labour AM
representing Newport ) who explained the reason for the briefing. He also
explained that due to the time constraints, each speaker would be restricted to
10 minutes. He then handed over to Alison Cox.
Alison is the ‘Director Of Prevention’ at CRUK and quickly
delved into the research that CRUK has funded into eCigs. She had a positive
message and stated categorically that based on the research that CRUK have
either funded or performed themselves, they are supportive of eCigarettes as an
effective smoking cessation tool. In my opinion, this was a very good start.
Next up, we had Chris Tudor Smith from the Welsh Government
Tobacco Policy Branch (that basically means he is part of the Welsh Department
of Health). I knew Chris, having met him back in January 2015. Indeed we had
chatted casually before the meeting had started. Chris’s role was to briefly
detail the responses that had been received back during the Public Health White
Paper Consultation. I had seen all of this information previously (it is
published and available from the Welsh Government website), so none of it
surprised me in the least.
Following on from Chris, we heard from Dr Julie Bishop. I
first encountered Dr Bishop at the eCigarette Summit in Swansea in the summer
of 2014. Those who remembered my conversations about that Summit will recall
that I referred to her as almost a clone of the CMO Dame Sally Davis as their
views were so similar. Accordingly, I was not expecting to hear anything
positive from her presentation. How wrong I was !!
Dr Bishop quickly ran through her slides stating how Public
Health Wales recognises that eCigarettes have a role in smoking-cessation and
that they are magnitudes safer than lit tobacco. I didn’t agree with everything
she said (e.g. she did trot out the usual guff of concern of them being a
gateway to smoking, worried about kids taking it up, normalising smoking etc),
but overall I felt her presentation was positive towards eCigarettes. I noticed
how she kept looking nervously in my direction during her presentation (I was
sat near the front directly in front of her), but I have to give her credit
that her views have changed substantially since I had last met her in 2014. I trust (but
don’t know) that this was a result of her reading the emerging evidence and/or listening
to the positive research and evidence that has been reported by the likes of
Hajek, West, Farsolinos etc. As mentioned previously, I didn’t agree with
everything she said, but overall I was actually pleasantly surprised with her
positive tone in regard to eCigarettes that she presented.
Next to present was Prof Linda Bauld. I have seen Linda present
on the subject of eCigarettes several times over the past 12 months and so knew
what to expect. True to form, Linda did not let us down. She rattled through
her slides explaining the different types of eCigarettes there are and why it
is important to distinguish between them, stating that only Gen 1 eCigarettes
look like real cigarettes (and that they are almost exclusively owned by Big Tobacco).
Talking about the futuristic appearance of Gen 2/3 eCigarettes, she challenged
anyone to say how they could possibly be confused for lit-tobacco
cigarettes. As if to emphasise this, she
introduced me to the audience as a Vaper and invited the audience to engage
with me to see examples of Gen 3 devices. Linda then went on to talk about the
ongoing studies that she has performed in regards to eCigarette use, in the
process completely demolishing Dr Bishop’s fears that they would be Gateway
products to smoking, that they would entice children etc. Linda also referenced
studies performed by ASH and CRUK, as well as those performed by the other
well-known luminaries in Harm Reduction. Throughout her presentation I was
glancing around the room to gauge how people were reacting to presentation and
I can confirm that there a clear ‘opening of eyes’ to the truth. Linda’s
presentation was warm, concise and articulate – and it got the message over to
the doubters big-time.
The last person to present was Prof. Marcus Munafo of Bristol
University. I had heard of Marcus before and knew he was positive toward
eCigarettes. However, I had never previously spoken to him or met him in person. An amiable
chap, Marcus’ presentation was slanted towards vapour production, contaminants
in the air and the effects of eCigarettes in enclosed spaces. For his
presentation, Marcus leaned heavily on the work produced by Dr Konstantinos
Farsalinos and Prof Riccardo Polosa – a fact he acknowledged at the start of
his presentation. I think it is safe to say that Dr Farsalinos would have
approved of the way Marcus presented the information, clearly and concisely
demonstrating that eCigarette vapour is nothing to be scared of. He used his
graphs and diagrams to demonstrate that any contaminants that may arise from
eCigarettes were so low that they were barely detectable. One graph clearly
demonstrated that there is barely any change in the atmosphere of an enclosed
space when eCigarettes are introduced. He also took the time to demolish the
recent ‘Formeldehyde’ scare by pointing out that the human body naturally
produces formaldehyde anyway and that eCigarettes did not increase this process
in any significant way. Quite frankly, I believe his presentation blew away a
lot of preconceived ideas people may have had about the harm of vapour and ‘second-hand’
vapour. One could almost hear the pennies dropping in the room.
Thus, the presentations were over and the floor was thrown
over for a Q&A Session with the panel. Disappointingly for me, there was a
deathly silence. I do not think anybody really knew how to formulate their
questions. So, despite not wanting to ‘take over’ the Q&A Session I decided
that I would have to get the ball rolling.
I started by stating that I had a question for Dr Julie
Bishop. At this point, I glanced over her and could visibly see her shoulders
and head drop as if she was dreading what was coming. However, when I commented
on how much her position on eCigs had changed between last year and this – and thanked
her for her change in position – she relaxed. However, I was not
going to let her off without answering a question so I asked her how she had
arrived at her conclusion that Big Tobacco was taking over the eCigarette
industry when they were almost exclusively in the Gen 1 marketplace. I probably
should have ended the question there, but got carried away and started stating
how the TPD would hand the entire eCig market to Big Tobacco and that it was
not supposed to be the result she was looking for. I think this flustered her
somewhat as she tried to find an answer to the question. Just as I believe she
was about to answer, Linda Bauld cut in and stated that the TPD was not part of
the discussion for that session. She was right of course and it was probably my
fault for not stopping at the first part of my question. However, Linda did
agree with me that Big Tobacco is a small player in the eCig market currently.
I waited a few seconds to see if anyone else was going to
come up with a question. When that did not happen, I decided to ask Linda to
explain to the room what was happening in Scotland and why the Scottish Government
was minded not to introduce a ban on vaping in public spaces. As Linda has been
heavily involved with the Scottish Consultation, she was of course able to give
a comprehensive report on what happened in Scotland and how they arrived at
their conclusions.
That broke the ice and other people started asking questions
and stimulated discussion – which is precisely what I wanted to provoke.
Eventually, time ran out and the panel was asked to present
any closing messages. Alison Cox, Marcus Munafo and Linda Bauld all stated
their support for eCigarettes and that they were nothing to be afraid of. They
also all stated that they did not believe there is evidence to support a ban on
vaping in public enclosed spaces.
And that was it. The Briefing was over and a period of
networking could begin.
Looking around the room, I could clearly see that all of the
AMs previously present had disappeared by now. However, I was still to have one
more welcome surprise.
I was approached by a young lad (unfortunately I do not
recall his name) who identified himself as a researcher from Kirsty Williams AM’s
(Welsh Lib-Dem Leader) office. He told me that Kirsty wanted him to let me know that she was still 100% in
support of our campaign against the proposed ban of vaping in public spaces and
that she would continue to support us in every way she can. Apparently, we can
also call on Kirsty for further help and support at any time. She remains
committed to our cause. I love that lady :-)
So there we have it. A nice bright note upon which the whole
thing ended.
In summary, I felt that the Briefing was very positive
towards eCigaretts and Vaping in general. I also believe that the presentations
turned the heads of a great many people present in the room and I think that it
played a great part in turning a significant corner in our battle against Mark
Drakeford’s insane and ideological crusade.
This is a battle we can win. This a battle we ARE winning.
It is a battle we WILL win !!
Finally, I would to register my personal thanks to Alison
Cox, Clare Bath and the entire CRUK Team present in Cardiff for their invite to
participate in the Briefing, and for warm welcome and discussions we were able
to have. I look forward to having the chance to participate again.
I would also like to thank Profs Marcus Munafo and Linda
Bauld for their great presentations and ongoing support. I am in awe of you
both !!
