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E-cigarettes ignite debate in the Peterborough
THEY look like cigarettes, feel like cigarettes but they can be smoked in pubs without breaking the law.
THEY look like cigarettes, feel like cigarettes but they can be smoked in pubs without breaking the law.Known as electronic, or e-cigarettes, they are already growing in popularity and several city hostelries have shown an interest in stocking them.
Although they look like the real thing, the battery-powered devices do not contain tobacco, so smokers using them can get around the ban on lighting up in enclosed places.
Instead, they create a nicotine vapour and manufacturers claim they are safer than ordinary cigarettes.
However, pubs officer for Peterborough CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Steve Williams said: "On the face of it, it looks like a winner but they might be out of the price range of many customers.
"Personally, I'm in favour of anything that might bring back some more customers into the hard-pressed public house."
What do you think?
Comment below, email us: news@ peterboroughtoday.co.uk.
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General manager of the Brewery Tap in Westgate Jessica Loock said she was intrigued by the idea.
She said: "As a concept, it seems it would keep the smokers of the world sane. So generally, I think it is a good idea."
Katie Skutela, a member of staff at the Dragon pub in Werrington, said her parents – the landlord and landlady – would be in favour of stocking e-cigarettes.
She said: "I think it's a good idea. We would consider offering them because both the landlord and landlady smoke."
But Beelin Baxter, regional tobacco policy manager for the East of England Regional Public Health Group, said: "We are hearing more and more about e-cigarettes after the smoking ban came in, because a lot of people are trying to get round it.
"The makers say they are healthier than tobacco, because they have no tar or chemicals.
"But none of them have been rigorously tested.
"Marketers claim they can help people stop smoking. But as far as we and the World Health Organisation are concerned, there have been no rigorous peer review surveys to establish if they are safer.
"I would urge people to be cautious.We don't know if they are entirely safe or what the long-term effects are."
She advised people looking to kick the habit to go to their stop smoking service and get onto a nicotine replacement therapy programme.
However, Katie Welch, one of the directors of the manufacturer the Electronic Cigarette Company said: "We had a toxicology report done, and they found it was better for you than normal cigarettes.
"We know they haven't had long-term clinical trials, because they haven't been around long enough.
"We don't know what the effects will be five years down the line, but we believe they are safe."
She added: "Anecdotally, our customers are saying they feel so much better, their houses don't smell anymore, their partners are happier and they don't want to smoke a cigarette."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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