CAM-VIP blog latest

[CAM-VIP]

This is our latest 'news' on the CAM-VIP site - I hope you find something of interest and maybe even some things to discuss

Russell



Over the last two years, the Campaign for Vaping in Pubs has been spreading the word about the legal alternative to smoking in pubs. The aim has been to increase awareness to smokers that there is an alternative to standing outside your local with a pint and missing all the fun going off inside.


Traditional pubs and what they have to offer, are becoming a real rarity. A large section of society in 2012, does not understand the concept of a traditional community pub and what it can offer its locality. Many people under the age of 40, have not been exposed to a real pub. Instead, they associate pubs with either extortionately priced alcohol, somewhere to eat out or take the kids, as part of a binging pub crawl or a trendy 'pulling' place. Many of the younger generation have never spent the whole of a single night in one pub. This lost generation is possibly the main reason why traditional pubs are failing however, the 'smoking ban', along with the price differential between on and off sales, has contributed to the decline.


Despite the Government's attempts to stop people from smoking or discourage people from taking up the 'nasty' habit, many people (like myself) still enjoy smoking, especially with a pint or two. The same holds true for the younger generation of smokers who we wish to attract into our traditional pubs. One possible way of doing this is to encourage traditional pubs to become the local 21st century tobacconist or 'e-bacconist' - a place for smokers to buy their favourite brand of electronic cigarette (ecig) - as tobacco cigarettes seem to have no place in our future;



",,, both at home and internationally, we will continue to act against the vested and commercial interests of the tobacco industry.



As Secretary of State for Health, I haven’t met with those companies. Not now or when I was in Opposition as the Conservative’s health spokesman. Their interests are not my interests. My objective is to achieve smoke-free communities; theirs is to make a profit from selling intrinsically harmful products. We don’t have common ground. This is not like alcohol, where there is a level of responsible drinking and potential shared campaigns between Government and retailers. That’s why there is no place in the Responsibility Deal for tobacco companies. There is no responsible level of tobacco consumption."


and


"We’ll also be looking at the best ways to reduce the damage that tobacco does to smokers’ bodies, even if they can’t or won’t break their addiction to nicotine.


As you know, although nicotine is an addictive substance in cigarettes, the damage mostly comes from the inhalation of the smoke itself.


Anything we can do to reduce that damage is well worth doing, even if some smokers can’t kick the nicotine."



(Speech: 6 March 2012, Andrew Lansley, Smoking and Health)




Smoking is becoming a very expensive and 'socially uncomfortable' pastime due to Government policies . The good old days when we could browse the different brands on offer at our local tobacconist or choose from a selection of 'goodies' on display at our local supermarket have gone for good. We now feel like druggies at a chemist queuing up for a methadone fix when we visit out local Tesco or Morrisons. Another alternative is to go abroad for our supplies or descend into the 'Black Market' by purchasing those imported on our behalf. As the policies on tobacco become harsher and harsher, smokers will have to look for an alternative to smoking tobacco.


Electronic cigarettes will become more and more popular as the Government's plans to erradicate 'tobacco consumption' and 'reduce the damage that tobacco does to smokers' bodies' take effect. Already tobacco companies are looking to market their own brands of ecigs to replace traditional cigarettes and there will also be 'medicinal' ecigs sold in chemists throughout the country in an attempt to wean people off nicotine (the latter is not something we are interested in).


Ecigs have been on the market for about 5 years in this country. Initially the majority of the brands available were a poor replacement for cigarettes and they were very expensive. In the last year or so, the technology has moved on and the costs have tumbled. Ecigs are now a true alternative to smoking where you cannot smoke, providing you buy the correct brand - a task which is much easier said than done!


CAM-VIP has been studying the ecig market for the last two years and one thing is clear. The brands which spend the most money on advertising in the press and other media, tend to be massively overpriced for what they are. Many of those brands give smokers unrealistic expectations of what the ecig can do and make false claims about how long they will last and what is actually in the vapour we inhale and exhale.


We have teamed up with six of the top UK online vendors of ecigs (VIP Partners) to ensure that traditional pubs wishing to be e-bacconists, will have access to the best brands at the best prices, along with all the real information and support that the smoker needs to help him/her choose the brand that is right for them. We will be trialling this initiative in my local from June and if it is successful, we hope to roll it out to other traditional pubs across the country.


Russell VR Ord

2012 - a new age of smoking,,, a new dawn for pubs? Let's hope so.