E cig ban for under 18s

[Karma]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25900542

[Ancient Hermit]

Hmmmm... not sure about how smart it is, but it's not truly terrible either; would like to see more or less all things that lead to death restricted to 18+ only, and yes that includes war and childbirth! Imperfect you say, well hell yes, but at least it would be consistent, and that sounds like a step forward!

[Karma]

some interesting comments

Not many people know this, but the smoking of e-cigarettes causes heat build up in the lungs that can lead to spontaneous combustion

[a1laserboy]

CH4 news just had a section on it too, didn't seem too bad.

[Ancient Hermit]

Jan 26, 2014 16:29:41 GMT Karma said:

some interesting comments

Not many people know this, but the smoking of e-cigarettes causes heat build up in the lungs that can lead to spontaneous combustion

Did not see that comment there just a minute ago, perhaps some eagle eyed mod over there recognised it as being spurious (or had it pointed out to them more likely) and ousted it!

Many, many years ago it was feared that travelling in a horseless carriage at 30 mph. or more (including in trains) would mean that people and more specifically ladies would struggle to breath and therefore might faint all over the place! 

[Karma]

there seems to have been quite a few removed comments Ancient Hermit

[Deleted]

I heard the piece on sky news and they had Prof West saying not many under 18s used e-cigs so why had they done it.

My paranoia says this is the warning of worse things to come but we'll see

[Karma]

Jan 26, 2014 16:47:25 GMT @johanino said:

My paranoia says this is the warning of worse things to come but we'll see

It may not be your paranoia 


The reputable vendors already don't sell to minors.  NRT is available for 12 year olds.  I'm not saying it's wrong to restrict e-cigs but they've decided based on no evidence and no consultation.

I'd certainly prefer my children to be on e-cigs rather than cigs.  I also don't get the 'it glamourises smoking to young people'.  My son thinks I look a right tit puffing on my e-cig  

[Karma]

I've just been thinking (I know, dangerous)

Will under 18s still be able to buy no nic e-shsha ???

[brads42]

It's not the headline about selling ecigs to children that's the main issue today, we've got Richard Warry of BBC News at the side of the story on the website with "the contents of e-cigarettes can vary. Some have been found to contain toxic chemicals which are also found in tobacco, and have been linked to cancer", McKee on TV waffling about flavours and shite, Prof Dame Sally Davies with "E-cigarettes can produce toxic chemicals......" , and some dopey TV Doc Sarah Jarvis reviving the antifreeze lie on Sky TV. Lots of collateral damage done today with very little comeback

[Karma]

Jan 26, 2014 19:11:57 GMT brads42 said:

It's not the headline about selling ecigs to children that's the main issue today, we've got Richard Warry of BBC News at the side of the story on the website with "the contents of e-cigarettes can vary. Some have been found to contain toxic chemicals which are also found in tobacco, and have been linked to cancer", McKee on TV waffling about flavours and shite, Prof Dame Sally Davies with "E-cigarettes can produce toxic chemicals......" , and some dopey TV Doc Sarah Jarvis reviving the antifreeze lie on Sky TV. Lots of collateral damage done today with very little comeback

yep, the usual sh*te 


But seriously, I'm scratching my head here 


What is it that under 18s can't buy?  Batteries?  Battery Tubes?  Clearos?  No nic e-juice?  Pre-filled cartos and cig-a-likes?  Do the policy makers have any idea themselves what they have banned?

[chris86]

Jan 26, 2014 19:20:10 GMT Karma said:

Jan 26, 2014 19:11:57 GMT brads42 said:

It's not the headline about selling ecigs to children that's the main issue today, we've got Richard Warry of BBC News at the side of the story on the website with "the contents of e-cigarettes can vary. Some have been found to contain toxic chemicals which are also found in tobacco, and have been linked to cancer", McKee on TV waffling about flavours and shite, Prof Dame Sally Davies with "E-cigarettes can produce toxic chemicals......" , and some dopey TV Doc Sarah Jarvis reviving the antifreeze lie on Sky TV. Lots of collateral damage done today with very little comeback

yep, the usual sh*te 


But seriously, I'm scratching my head here 


What is it that under 18s can't buy?  Batteries?  Battery Tubes?  Clearos?  No nic e-juice?  Pre-filled cartos and cig-a-likes?  Do the policy makers have any idea themselves what they have banned?

Probably not, but their ignorance is both a disadvantage and an advantage to us. On the one hand, it leads them to want to ban things in the first place. On the other hand, they have no clear idea of what they are actually banning, which means that the legislation will be full of loopholes. If an outright ban on e-cigs was put into place tomorrow, I reckon that most of the products we buy could still be sold:

Government Idiot: "Is that an e-cig? You know that it's illegal to sell them?"

Vendor: "No, it's an atomizer".

Government Idiot: "Oh, ok. What about that - is that an e-cig?"

Vendor: "No, it's a variable voltage battery tube".......and so on.

The only things that unequivocally count as e-cigs are cigalikes and maybe ego kits. A law without clear definitions is unenforcable, and the law-makers lack the expertise to come up with clear definitions, which bodes well for us.

[Raffles]

In any market, especially fags and booze, there is a 'black market' where anyone can get hold of anything they want, no questions asked as long as the purchaser has got the money.

Unfortunately the Gov't, in the way this has been announced, 'somewhat out of the blue', and the media, in the way it is all being reported, (an explosion of reports recently), has just made this 'product' into a 'must have' for all impressionable youngsters. The opposite effect they wanted, or is it? Do they want to report so many 'under 18s' using them that they'll have the excuse to ban them altogether?

For those of us with a few miles on the clock, what did you do when you were young, and were told this 'whatever it was' was forbidden to you... even if you had no desire for it before, the fact you now couldn't have it, made you desire and find any way to get hold of it to see what all the fuss was about.

The reputable retailers have been restricting the sales anyway, in a responsible way... the 'cowboys' who don't care, are the real worry, as they are also the ones who are probably selling 'dodgy' liquids as well, and need to be dealt with. Also, the 'sexy' ads by BigT have done us no favours at all, although they won't lose any sleep.

'Some' of the 'guests' on various TV reports, spouting their expertise really do worry me, at their lack of knowledge, or is it something more sinister? (Trying to be very careful what I say at this point).

[ionian]

This is a good thing. In one swift move, it removes the "think of the children!" hysteria by allowing us to point out that they are not legally available to minors. I accept the point about being safer for kids, but the fact cigs aren't legal to buy doesn't stop them trying it, this won't either. Very little will change, except it becomes an argument about giving adults a choice about what they do with their own bodies. We can win that fight.

The comment above about what exactly they will ban by Karma is an excellent point, politicians need to wise up and understand the market before they can hope to regulate it.

[deesigner]

I agree with Karma, it is preferable if kids are going to insist on using nicotine that they vape rather than smoke, it's a pity all these newly opened businesses didn't go inline with the online reputable retailers and restrict the age to over 18's in the first place. I don't know what it's like in other areas but here teens are using ecigs as though they're the latest cool toy!