What Type Of Advocate Are You ?

I attended the Vaper Expo in in Birmingham yesterday. It was a long drive from Swansea (in blazing sunshine on the way up, in torrential rain and thunder on the way back) and I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of such events. Don't get me wrong, the event was very well organised (as one might imagine of anything of the scale held at the halls of the NEC), in fact I would say it was remarkably well organised. 

No, the reason I do not enjoy such events are personal. I have a severe dislike of large crowds. I can handle them in an outdoor venue because there is always a feeling of space. But at indoor events, large crowds tend to make the whole thing rather close in on you, stifling any space that may be had regardless of how high the ceilings are, or how cavernous the hall may be.

So why did I go ?
First off, such events are often the only time I encounter many of the people I have come to know as friends through the Vaping community. Secondly, the NNA was due to have a stall at the event and as an NNA Trustee I was my duty to go there and represent the NNA in the best way I can. Thirdly, in my mind it may be the last time to attend such an event before the TPD rules and regulations change the Vaping Industry beyond all recognition (if we let the authorities get away with it).

So, I aimed to arrive the venue at around 11am, enough time to let the entry queues die down and enable me to enter the event quietly and without fuss (Yes, I paid to get in just the same as any other punter). To that end, I found myself arriving at the VTTV stand, only to find that things at the NNA stand had not gone as planned (not something I am going to discuss here). So, basing myself at the VTTV Stand (and trying to stay out of the way of filming) the day began.

At Midday, an 'Advocacy' Session was due be held on the main stage. The three hosts would be Dimitri Agrafiotis (I hope I spelt that right !!), Dave Dorn and Matt (from (Suck My Mod fame). Unusually, the Advocacy Session attracted a large crowd, maybe inspired by the fact that the subject for the Advocacy Session was to be the TPD. So it was that I stood at the side of the stage watching these guys entertaining the crowd, but still 'informing' them of what was to come. If the crowd didn't understand the impact the TPD is going to have before, they certainly knew of the ramifications by the end of the session.

But what struck me most of all whilst watching the Advocacy Session was the different forms that advocacy can take. I have to say that I am in awe when I watch the likes of Dimi and Dave entertaining the crowds, yet getting important information across to them at the same time. Hopefully inspiring them to be become advocates too. But I have to admit that it also made me feel awkward.

You see, I'm just not that kind of person. I couldn't stand up on a stage like that and entertain a crowd, whilst putting an advocacy message across. I'm just not that extrovert or confident. I can sit in a room full of Public Health people and tell them my story, what vaping means, how it is a public health benefit and why they are wrong to persecute vaping. I've sat across the table (on many occasions) from Politicians and hammered home the same messages. Sometimes my endeavours have been successful, other times not so much. But I am at home in that environment where I am not trying to reach (or entertain) a crowd of people. If I don't have an audience watching every word, I can be both very articulate and also extremely persuasive.

I've certainly hope that my efforts played a small part in stopping the proposed Vaping ban in Wales (albeit that we did have some luck), though I guess it is something I will never know. It is certainly something that intend to continue with renewed force and gusto in the coming months and years. But what I do know is that I am not in way or form a 'rabble-rouser'. I am not the sort of person who leads and everyone follows (I'm probably the complete opposite) and I am certainly never going to find myself stood in front of a large crowd like I witnessed yesterday and whipping them into a fervour and frenzy of excitement and purpose.

So I trust you will excuse me if I continue to sit quietly in the shadows, generally unnoticed. I know that the vast majority of vape enthusiasts wouldn't recognise me if they tripped over me. To be honest, that is probably the way it will always be (and the way I like it to be).

I'll leave the speeches to the Dave's, the Dimi's, the Sarah's, and the Lorien's of this world, because I am never going to be that kind of advocate. If you want to know what I am up to, read my blog. If you want to know what I think, read my blog. If you want to know who I have been meeting, read my blog.

BUT, the Vaping Advocacy world DOES need more of the people who are extrovert and happy to make a noise, stand in front of a crowd educating, advocating and entertaining. We need LOTS of them. Whilst I might not possess that type of character, there must be many of you out there who hitherto have not got involved in advocacy but who DO possess that character. If you are that person, make yourself known. It is a sad fact of life that any cause only gets listened to when the advocates of that cause are LOUD and refuse to be SILENCED. That's what we need now. The loud extroverts who are prepared to fight for what they believe in.

If you can do that, then that is brilliant news. It then allows me to do what I am good at and that is something that very few of you will ever know or hear about. But I believe DOES make a difference. We can ALL make a difference.

Shadows In The Dark

What Is An Advocate ?

This is a question I have pondering for some time now. You see the word used in all manner of contexts in the ever-evolving world of Vaping. To some, the mere fact that a person may bitch and moan on Social Media about the unfair treatment of Vaping, makes that person an advocate. To others, it means somebody who regularly blogs on the subject. To yet more people, one only becomes an advocate when one takes direct action.

The dictionary definition of an advocate (at least insofar as the website Dictionary.com defines it) is the following:

So if you take that explanation as gospel, then all of the scenarios above would be correct.

But isn’t all this merely a matter of perception ?

What we call Advocates, the Public Health Community calls ‘Trolls’. Conversely, what the Public Health Community perceives as an Advocate derives a whole host of alternatives from the Vaping community – some of them repeatable, a fair proportion not.

The point I am trying to make is that advocates attract all manner of abuse. Some from the ‘enemy’, but increasingly much of the abuse is from what I would term as ‘friendly-fire’.  

What makes it so unacceptable is that the more one puts oneself ‘out there’ as an advocate, the more people seem to think that you are ‘their property’. You no longer exist as a person, but rather you are now a figurehead that is up there to be shot at, criticised, brought down. The point is, each and every ‘advocate’ will have their own views and, whilst your common ground may be the acceptance of eCigarettes in general society, that person may well hold other opinions (like how to achieve the end-goal) that differ from your own. 

Does that make them wrong ? No

Does that make you wrong ? No

Does that give you the right to denigrate, slag-off, insult their point of view ? No

Despite this, I am continually seeing more and more blogs whose sole-purpose appears to be to denigrate and belittle the very people who are fighting to save vaping.  

The NNA has been a prime target in recent months. I have read several blogs who attempt to attack the work of the NNA, or attack anything the NNA say ... and those attacks have NOT been coming from 'the enemy'. In fact, some of those blogs have even gone so far as to personally attack NNA Board Members. This something I find absolutely incredible as most of the general public will be completely unaware of much that the NNA undertakes. There are many reasons for this, but suffice to say it is by necessity that the NNA has to keep quiet on many subjects until they are formally announced. If people had any idea just how much work the NNA actually does, they would not be so quick to criticise.

I will be perfectly honest. I am GLAD that very few people have any idea who I am or what I do. The more known you are, the more abuse you seem to attract. I am anonymous enough that I can easily walk through most crowds in a Vape event (of any description) and not be bothered or recognised. That leaves me free to hear what people are saying. It helps me to learn whether what I am doing has any support. It also allows me to quietly organise how to fight against Vape-bans and other legislation, who I need to talk to, when/where I need to talk to them.It also enables me to let others know what the 'word on the street' is.

I read a LOT of blogs. Some of them are written by vapers. Some of them are written by smokers. Some of them are written by Public Health or the Medical Profession. Some of them are written by Libertarians. Some of them are written by political figures. Some of them are written by people who fit into none of those categories, but just happen to have fun blogs that I have come across who ‘sometimes’ might comment on something that does fall into any of those categories.

The reason I personally read such a wide range of blogs is because I like to try and get the widest perspective possible because of the type of people that I have to deal with day-in, day-out over the past three years. It is no secret that I have met with a few politicians in face to face meetings. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not. For that reason, it helps to know the position their political party has, so I read their blogs. If that politician also has a personal blog, I read that too.  It also helps to read the blogs of their supporters. It always helps to have at least some background and understanding of where they are coming from first before I deal with them. My part in the Vaping revolution may be small (and insignificant in many ways), but it is always best to be prepared

So, am I an eCigarette Advocate ?  My honest answer would have to be NO, but I am Libertarian.

That may surprise some of you, but I suspect the vast majority could not care less about my answer.

In my humble view, I dislike state interference at any level into our personal lives. I resented the smoking ban when I was a smoker, and I still resent the smoking ban now. I resent the attempts by various organisations and governments to introduce Minimum Unit Pricing on alcohol. I resent the so-called ‘sin taxes’ on such products. I resent the recent attempts to introduce ‘sin-taxes’ on sugary drinks, salt and so-called junk food. The list goes on.

Yes, it is true that I first started getting involved in public life due to the evidence-free persecution of Vaping. But the more I look at it, the more I realise that it is not just the persecution of Vaping that is getting me fired up. It is the general and gradual erosion of all of our personal liberties is firing me up these days, eCigs just happens to be one part of it.

I don’t want to be the drone that the Public Health lobbyists would like us to be, living a boring black and white event-less existence. It is my body and if I want to take risks with it, I will. It is not Government’s or anyone else’s business.

So, before you blog, before you hurl insults on social media, just think about what an advocate actually is. That person may well be (and probably is) doing a hell of a lot more behind the scenes than you realise. This is especially true of the 'Faces' - that is, the people who are well-known in the field of vaping advocacy. They may 'seem' to be 'vaping aristocracy' flitting from Expo to another, or going from one radio/TV show to another, or moving from one conference to another, but there is also a LOT of hard work going on behind that. It is all consuming of time and attention.

...and remember that Shadow you barely see in the background. That's probably me. You may not recognise me or know me, but I am there, listening and watching :-)

Labour AMs Crucial To Stage 3 of Public Health Wales Bill

Vapers In Power have been running a campaign urging Vapers to Adopt an AM. You can find the full post here. Since they started that campaign, I have started my own investigation into where Labour are most vulnerable in the coming Assembly Elections. I discussed this in my previous two blog entries.

However, before the Assembly Elections, there is a crucial vote at Stage 3 of the Public Health (Wales) Bill. This really is our last chance at getting eCigarettes removed from the Bill.

It is well known that the Labour AMs are being whipped into supporting the Bill. It is also well known that several Labour AMs are 'uneasy' about eCigarettes being part of the Bill. To stand a chance of defeating Mark Drakeford, we are therefore reliant on every single non-Labour AM opposing the Bill whilst eCigarettes are still a part of it.

Wouldn't it be fantastic if a couple of Labour AMs ignored the whip and voted against the Bill for the same reason ?

"It won't happen", I hear you all shout. "Labour AMs are whipped", is the other cry I hear.

Both statements are true. But would the whip work on Labour AMs who have no intention of continuing life as an AM ?

During my investigations, it has became apparent that a significant number of Labour AMs are standing down at the upcoming elections. It is entirely possible that these particular AMs could be persuaded to vote against their own party on this issue. After all, what can Labour do to them ?  They are standing down so it is not as if the Labour Party can sanction any of these people. I have no idea what the views of these AMs are in regard to Vaping, but it cannot hurt to try.

So, I now present NINE Labour AMs who are standing down at the upcoming Assembly Elections. If you care about vaping and ANY of the AMs on the following list happen to be YOUR Constituency AM (they are ALL Constituency AMs), then write them a letter or email, or go and meet them in their Constituency Office or Surgeries. Tell them your Vaping story and why Vaping is important to you. Implore them to ignore the Labour Party Whip and do right by you, their constituent.


Huw Lewis - Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney

Edwina Hart - Gower

Gwenda Thomas - Neath

Keith Davies - Llanelli

Sandy Mewies - Delyn

Christine Chapman - Cynon Valley

Janice Gregory - Ogmore

Jeff Cuthbert - Caerphilly

Rosemary Butler - Newport West

Vaping in Wales - Time To Change Tactics ? Part 2

In my last blog, I suggested that another way of changing the minds of the Labour AMs would be to target their seats in the forthcoming Welsh Assembly Elections to see whether party loyalty means more to them than their jobs. To that end, I endeavoured to gather the information required to see where Labour are most vulnerable. The result is the table below, sorted into ascending order showing the seats with the smallest majorities first.

Unfortunately, these blog building sites are not very 'table-friendly', so I have had to insert the table below as an image. If you are having trouble reading the text, then click the image and it should open into a larger format.

What the above table does not show you is the 'UKIP effect'. This is simply because UKIP did not field any candidates in the last Assembly Elections. However, they did field candidates in last year's General Elections. Whilst they did not win any seats in Wales, they did put up a strong showing in many constituencies. Contrary to what Labour will have you believe, much of the votes that UKIP took were from Labour. For this reason, UKIP are going to be an unknown in the Assembly Election. Many observers believe that they will succeed in getting a number of Regional AM's. This is possible given that Regional AMs are selected through Proportional Representation. However, Constituency AMs are voted in a straight contest and I honestly cannot see UKIP gaining a Constituency AM. What they will certianly do is 'dilute the vote' and so could have a strong influence on results for other parties.

For reference, the following table shows the results for all Welsh Constituencies at the General Election 2015.

 

Based on the results of the last Assembly Elections, and on what happened in the General Election, I now present my top 5 seats where we have a realistic chance of getting rid of Labour AMs and their attempts at block-banning vaping in enclosed public spaces.

Cardiff Central: Held at the 2011 Assembly Elections by Labour with the smallest majority of any seat - just 38 votes. The main opposition in 2011 were the Liberal Democrats. Since then it is fair to say that the Lib-Dem vote nationally has imploded. But I am not so sure that the same will happen in the Assembly Elections. Furthermore, the Lib-Dems have selected the popular Eluned Parrot to contest this seat in 2016.

My verdict: Eluned is a well-known and outspoken member of the Lib-Dems. Despite the national implosion of the Lib-Dem vote at the General Election, they still ran Labour close in Cardiff Central. Eluned's popularity will help their cause greatly and I think she stands a good chance of succeeding. Also, the Lib-Dems have been strong supporters of vaping in Wales. Time to repay that debt and support the Lib-Dems in this seat.

Llanelli: If I recall correctly, this seat has a habit of changing hands quite regularly. It is currently held by Labour's Keith Davies who won the seat with a majority of just 80 over Plaid Cymru's Helen Mary Jones. However, Keith Davies is standing down at the next election and it is not yet known who will stand in his place. What is known is that Helen Mary Jones will be standing once again for Plaid Cymru. Can she win ?  I would say Yes. Plaid have a strong following in Llanelli and always put up a strong showing.

My verdict: Whilst I do not know Helen Mary Jones views on vaping, I would suggest that any AM other than a Labour AM is a better bet for Vapers. So I would strongly advocate supporting Plaid here. 

Cardiff North: Labour literally squeaked through in 2011 by a mere 1782 votes over the Conservatives. However, at the General Election, the Conservatives overturned that majority and won it with a majority of more than 2000 votes. This is significant because Labour have a prominent AM holding Cardiff North in the shape of Julie Morgan. This means that if the Conservatives maintain the support they received at the General Election, then Cardiff North is a major scalp to take.

My verdict: Vapers should support the Conservatives in this seat as they must be seen as the hot favourites to win it.

Clwyd South: Currently held by Labour's Ken Skates with a majority of 2659 over the Conservatives. The Conservatives have selected Simon Baynes to contest the seat this time around. I do not know anything about Simon, but given that the AM in neighbouring Clwyd West is Darren Millar, I would imagine that we can quickly find out about him. Plus I would expect that he and Darren have quite a bit of dialogue.

My verdict: Simon Baynes has a significant task ahead of him in overturning a majority of 2659 from the last election. Labour also took Clwyd South in the General Election by a similar margin. However, the Conservatives are the best bet for taking this seat from Labour so my advicer to Vapers would be to support them.

Delyn: Currently held by Labour's Sandy Mewies with a majority of 2881 over the Conservatives. However, Sandy Mewies is standing down at the forthcoming Assembly Election. There is no news as yet on who will be taking her place as Labour Candidate. Neither can I find any news on who will stand for the Conservatives. Mark Isherwood stood as the Conservative candidate for this consituency in last year's General Election - which he lost by just under 3000 votes. I have met Mark in person and know that he is a friendly, intelligent, informed and knowledgeable man. He also supports Vaping. It wouldn't surprise me to find that Mark contests this seat. 

My verdict: Winning the seat will be a big ask, but once again the Conservatives (whoever they select) are probably our best bet as Vapers to support.




I have highlighted the Top 5 Labour Seats to target for tactical voting. Please remember that the Lib-Dems and the Conservatives have been a united voice in opposing the ban on vaping in enclosed public spaces. Where the Lib-Dems and Cons are protecting small majorities, help them by supporting them. It is no use in targetting Labour seats for tactical voting if we then lose our biggest supporters from other seats.

Also, Plaid Cymru AMs have (in the main) been staunch supporters of vaping. The only Plaid Cymru AMs that have supported Mark Drakeford's crusade to ban vaping are Elin Jones (at the HSCC - she is also trying to defend a small majority) and Dafydd Elis Thomas in the Senedd vote. Plaid's overall continued support is vital.
 

Vaping in Wales - Time To Change Tactics ?

Those of you who have been following the fight to save Vaping in Wales will be aware of the battle that Welsh advocates have been waging to save vaping from being banned in enclosed public spaces over the past two years.

Throughout those two years we have been meeting with as many Welsh Politicians as we can and engaging with the science and the scientists responsible for that science. Indeed we counted on, and received, strong support from the likes of Cancer Research UK, Royal College of Physicians, ASH Wales, British Lung Association, Tenovus and the British Heart Foundation.

Despite this, the Public Health (Wales) Bill and it's incorporated sections to ban vaping in public enclosed spaces, still managed to pass through both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the scrutiny process executed by the Health & Social Care Committee. The reason it got through Stage 1 was because the Labour AMs closed ranks and used their majority on the HSCC to force the issue through. Stage 2 garnered the same result despite admirable and convincing arguments against the ban tabled by the likes of Kirsty Williams, Darren Millar and Lindsay Whittle. Though at Stage 2, vapers will have been extremely disappointed to see Plaid Cymru's Elin Jones have a change of heart (for whatever reason) and support Mark Drakeford's ideological and evidence-free proposals to ban vaping in public enclosed spaces.

Now Stage 3 (the final process) is in progress. Whilst technically ANY Assembly Member can now table amendments to the Bill, it has to be said that Labour have sufficient numbers to effectively veto any changes.

So it would seem that all is lost and the battle is over. But is it ?  My answer to that is NO !!

You see, the Welsh Assembly now has just FOUR weeks of business left during which they must get Stage 3 completed and voted through. After that period the Assembly goes into recess because in May ALL of those AMs must seek re-election.

Now many of you will be thinking 'So what ?  The election is far too late to change anything'. But this is where you are wrong. This is also where vapers need to start thinking about a change in tactics.

Three of the main Welsh parties - Labour, Conservatives and Liberal-Democrats - are holding the whip to their AMs. That is, all Labour AMs are being instructed to support the proposals currently on the table, whilst all Conservative and Liberal Democrats AMs are being instructed to oppose the current proposals. Plaid Cymru are the only party that is (currently) allowing a free vote on the matter.

So we Vapers now need to change our tactics and use the forthcoming Welsh election to our advantage.


We have already seen that vapers can change the outcome of elections through the actions of advocacy groups in the USA such as SFATA. They have successfully mounted campaigns that have unseated anti-vaping Senators. This is a tactic they continue to employ with considerable success.

We need to emulate this tactic in Wales. You see, several prominent Labour AMs are sitting on very small majorities in their constituencies and even a small shift in the voting base can unseat these people. Furthermore, Labour had their noses severely bloodied in last year's General Election when two seats they strongly expected to win were lost to the Conservatives. This happened in the Cardiff North constituency and the Gower constituency. Labour also failed to win the majority of their other targetted marginal seats. Consequently, Labour are running scared in the Welsh Election (regardless of anything they may say to the contrary) because they are well aware of the threat. Add in to the mix that UKIP are fielding candidates in the Welsh Election for the very first time and you can understand Labour's jitters. After all, contrary to what Labour will tell you, UKIP's strong performance in Wales last May was due to their taking of LABOUR votes in the Valleys, not Conservative ones.

Over the next few days, I plan to start analysing the potential for tactical voting across all of the constituencies and regions that will form the battle grounds in the Welsh election campaign. I plan to engage with Vapers In Power (who are also planning to field several candidates) to work out the best way of targetting the success and liberty that Vapers across Wales deserve.

Whilst the definitive list of Candidates for each Constituency and Region are not yet available, I can give you a few examples of where Vapers votes can have a significant amount of influence.

Cardiff West: This is the Constituency currently held by the Health Minister Mark Drakeford. This would be a significant and substantial scalp for Vapers were Mark Drakeford - the man who wants to ban vaping in public enclosed spaces - to be unseated. It may surprise you all to find that at the last Assembly Elections, Drakeford only had a majority of just over 5000 votes. In a constituency with as dense a population as Cardiff West, that is NOT a significant majority. As the lists come out over the next week or so, I will be seeking out his opposition to learn their position on eCigs.

Ceredigion:  This seat is currently held by Plaid Cymru's Elin Jones. Until recently, Elin was a strong supporter of our opposition to the eCig ban. Then, at Stage 2 of the HSCC scrutiny, Elin suddenly changed sides and supported Mark Drakeford. This surprised and angered a great deal of Welsh vapers as her support for Drakeford meant that his hated Bill got an easy ride through Stage 2. Surprisingly, Elin Jones majority at the last Assembly Elections was just over 1000 votes. This means she is extremely vulnerable to losing her seat in May.

Cardiff North:  Another Labour seat, held by Julie Morgan, which the Labour party will be very nervous about. Labour targetted Cardiff North in last years General Election - and lost it to the Conservatives. The Cons will be targetting this seat again in May and a have serious chance of achieving their aim of winning the seat.

Other marginals at the last Assembly Elections that were won by Labour are: Cardiff Central and Llanelli. However, I listed the three examples above as they are the most significant seats involved insofar as Vapers being able to make a big statement. The only way we are going to jolt Welsh Labour out of their arrogance and unswerving support for Drakeford's madness over eCigs is to demonstrate that we have the ability to remove them from power. Nothing focusses the mind of a politician more than the potential to lose his job because he blindly followed the party whip - regardless of his own personal feelings on the subject.

I happen to know that several Labour AMs do NOT support Drakeford's proposals to ban eCigs from public enclosed spaces, but they think loyalty to their party is more important. They forget that it is us VOTERS that they are there to serve. If they refuse to listen to us now, then let's force them to listen by showing how much of their destiny is held in OUR hands.

My next blog will be a detailed breakdown of each marginal constituency held by Labour (and any other AM who supports Drakeford's plans) and who the main opposition is. It will demonstrate which Labour AMs are most vulnerable and where we can focus our efforts to change the political landscape in Wales. The only reason I am doing this is because LABOUR REFUSE TO LISTEN.

They would not listen to us before, but now is our chance to MAKE them listen :-)

The Incompetence Of Mainstream eCig Reporting

It's safe to say that the Christmas / New Year period did not pass without incidence in the eCig world. Just before the New Year broke, we saw a slew of scaremongering stories appear in The Daily Mail, The Independent, and even in my local rag The South Wales Evening Post. The interesting part about this so-called 'story' is that the study upon which it was based was published in November, but it was only over the Christmas / New Year period that it was released to the newspapers. The cynic in me can't help but wonder how deliberate that was, especially since many of the usual ANTZ all seemed to be available for comment.

Within hours we had the first rebuttal of this from the Stats Guy's excellent blog here. The following day Prof Linda Bauld issued a similarly blistering rebuttal of the study in The Guardian here. The finally, we had the excellent Professor Marcus Munafo produce a similarly damning response in The New Scientist (free subscription required).

Now, on the third day into the New Year, we had BBC Breakfast putting their oar into the debate when they decided to do an article on the forthcoming TPD. Trying to be different, the Beeb decided to base their story entirely in Belgium where (apparently) vaping in public is banned. The whole point of the Beeb article was (I think) to try and put a positive spin on the dreadful and pointless TPD by pointing out that it will actually make vaping easier to do in Belgium. However, typically of the Beeb, the article was both lightweight and lacking in any investigation. They chose not to delve in to the details of the TPD and discover how it will make almost every useful eCig device illegal overnight, thus handing the entire market into the hands of Big Tobacco. No, instead they chose to do their usual by digging out some previously unheard of Belgian Health Official who proceeded to spout the usual "we just don't know" spiel on eCigarettes. The Beeb being the Beeb, it didn't even try to explore a modicum of balance by getting an eCig advocating scientist on the report to give the opposing view.

You can watch the complete (and brief) BBC report here.

I don't know about you, but I am getting very tired of these so-called 'experts' being repeatedly rolled out on our screens with the usual (evidence-less) "We don't know" arguments. It's getting extremely old and tedious now. It also can only bring us to one of two conclusions:

1.     We don't know what's in them: Why don't you know ? They have been around for more than 10 years now. You SHOULD know. Isn't it your job to know ?  If you don't know then you are obviously incompetent in your job and not fit to hold the office you do. So do the world a favour and quit your (very well) remunerated role and let someone who DOES know to do your job instead.

or

2.     You just don't want to know: Yep, this means you know the truth, but you would prefer not to know and will continue to pretend not to know as long as it keeps you in your (well remunerated) role. It means you will keep appearing in the media, peddling your lies and endangering the health of the very public you are supposed to be protecting.


Whether your reason is (1) or (2) above, you are a DISGRACE to the Public Health profession and you will one day be held responsible for your actions. Think on that Public Health officials.

An Open Letter to Assembly Members

Dear Assembly Members,

Next week (8^th December) you are going to get the opportunity to debate the contents of the Public Health (Wales) Bill. As you will be aware, certain aspects of the Bill have proved to very contentious from the outset. This has been exacerbated by events that transpired as the Bill passed through the scrutiny of the Health & Social Care Committee.

The HSCC has now released its report of the scrutiny of the Public Health (Wales) Bill. The majority of the report reveals widespread cross-party support for most of the aims of the Bill. However, it also showed a deep divide over the issue of eCigarettes.

The Welsh Government has provided no credible evidence to proceed with the ban. In fact, during the evidence sessions several organisations comprehensively dismantled and dismissed what little evidence the Welsh Government did produce. Opinions were heard from a number of sources (though not from vapers themselves).

Compelling positions against the proposals to ban eCigarettes in enclosed public spaces came, in person, from the likes of ASH Wales, Cancer Research UK, Royal College of Physicians, Public Health England (through Prof Peter Hajek) and Professor John Britton (Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies) during the evidence sessions. All of these organisations/people have conducted extensive peer-reviewed and published research and studies into the effects of eCigarettes.

Substantial more evidence against any ban on eCigarettes was also received from a variety of well-respected organisations in written format.

It should be obvious that there is no credible evidence for implementing a ban on eCigarettes and those AM’s who sit with their fingers in their ears ignoring the evidence are doing a serious disservice to the lives and health of not only vapers and their families, but also smokers (the potential vapers of the future) and their families. Today, in eCigarettes, we have an innovation that offers a genuine (and healthier) alternative to lit tobacco. It is a phenomenon widely recognised by the leading scientists and public health professionals across the world. The recent report published by Public Health England recognised that eCigarettes are at least 95% safer than using lit tobacco. Yet here in Wales, we have a Health Minister that wants to ban the use of eCigarettes in enclosed public spaces and places of work based on his own ideology and misunderstanding of the science.

As one of the estimated 240,000 Welsh vapers who has successfully quit smoking through the use of an eCigarette, I implore all AM’s to look at the evidence and vote with the science, not by blind loyalty to a party (or Health Minister) who simply is unable to understand the science behind eCigarettes. I tried time and time again to quit using many or all of the recommended methods, services, and products, and failed. With eCigarettes I succeeded, and my friends and family are delighted that my success will result in my being around for a long time to come. Thanks to vaping, I have been smoke-free for almost 5 years. This should be a cause for celebration.

Do not take away the opportunity I had to quit smoking, from others who have yet to make the switch. By banning vaping in public enclosed spaces, you will be removing their opportunity to meet with vapers and learn all about this life-saving device. I have lost count of the number of smokers who have approached me in pubs and clubs, on the streets and even in vape shops, curious to learn of my experiences with vaping and how it all works. A great many of them have now also kicked their smoking habit thanks to discovering vaping. I can assert with confidence that by banning vaping in public enclosed spaces, you will be taking away the opportunity of smokers to learn of the benefits of switching to vaping.

Nothing in life is risk-free. Even the drinking water that comes through our taps holds chemicals and risk. Mark Drakeford keeps asserting that we do not have enough evidence and that he is following the precautionary principle. This  is a very misguided policy to be following. In the 1980’s, we did not have the level of science on condoms and safer-sex that we have right now for eCigarettes. But most in Public Health agreed that the precautionary principle applied there. So what is different about eCigarettes ? A lifeboat is most certainly not 100% risk-free, but how many of us would refuse to use one if the ship in which we were sailing was about to sink causing certain death ?

Many of us had resigned ourselves to smoking for the rest of our lives, having failed on so many previous occasions. But then we found vaping and a new community of understanding and supportive friends.

I implore you. Go with the evidence, not with party loyalties. The evidence will clearly show you that eCigarettes save lives. If the ban goes ahead, significantly fewer smokers will switch to a less harmful alternative and many vapers will return to smoking. Is this really what you want to see ?

Open your eyes to the evidence and oppose the ban. You know in your hearts and minds that it is the right thing to do.