Growing up in a family where a fair majority of them smoked, it was always a table discussion that children shouldn’t be around smoke or that smoking in a house will damage the paint on the walls and ceiling or the biggest one yet; Smoking is bad for you, it’ll kill you. These were the phrases I picked up throughout my years growing up, but since when did anyone listen to them?
The arguments were rather dark when it came to my Dad, the non-smoker and my Nan, the smoker. Apparently, too much of anything is bad for you and we all know what happens when people think something is bad for oneself, a new option is birthed into the world as a substitute.
According to the HSE’s website: “The law which was applied to smoking, did not apply to e-cigarettes. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, James Reilly, stated that the ban was being introduced to bring about a culture change so that people do not engage in the activity.”
“This legislation has been in place since 2016 after a survey indicated that almost one in five children are exposed to smoke in cars; that smoke containing more than 4,000 chemicals with around 50 of them being cancer-causing.”
“According to the 2019 Healthy Ireland Survey, there are now over 240,000 vapers in Ireland, with 13 per cent of ex-smokers using e-cigarettes. It is the view of Vape Business Ireland (VBI) that vaping has a significant role to play in achieving the State’s objective of Tobacco Free Ireland by 2025”.
I wonder is this really the case though? The legislation has proved to be somewhat of a success because of the fact there is no smoking in public enclosed areas or public transport, but this new substitute has only grown in popularity when smokers found out that it was a “less harmful” option instead of quitting permanently.
However, I think e-cigarettes have proved to be less harmful than actual cigarettes, but we are in the early stages, and we do not know yet of the long-term effects that come with vaping. I feel like the Government needs to take on board the fact that vaping is on the rise, and it needs to be looked into about what the dangers pose after vaping long term.
Personally, my previous workplace had two workers who would vape in secret in the canteen, often blowing the smoke out the window hoping no-one would see, but there was always observing eyes.
If smoking is banned in an indoor workplace, then shouldn’t that legislation stretch to e-cigarettes? Then again, the e-cigarettes are under their own law because of how it doesn’t contain tobacco, but there still should be respect given to those who don’t smoke or vape.
I can understand that vaping is a less harmful way than what smoking a cigarette entails, but as previously mentioned, we have no idea what the long-term effects will be? Less harmful, yes, but does that apply to the fact it’s not cancer causing? That it won’t affect your lungs or throat in some dangerous way?
If vaping is on the rise to being more popular and a ‘healthier’ way of satisfying one’s habit, then Government officials need to have a sit down and rule out a new legislation under a vaping act. If there is legislation for smoking then there should be one for vaping because if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, they really aren’t that different.
We need to protect ourselves and the people around us, including the environment. We don’t want a movie released in the future titled The Rise of the Planet Vape.
