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Feature: Wales to become first area of Britain to ban use of e-cigarettes in public places

Xinhua, June 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Welsh government health minister Mark Drakeford Tuesday introduced legislation for the first public ban on e-cigarettes in Britain.

The minister put forward the measure at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff as part of a new health bill covering all of Wales.

The new rules will apply the same stringent rules on e-cigarettes that already apply to tobacco products in Wales.

It will mean from 2017 e-cigarette users will no longer be able to use the devices in enclosed places such as restaurants, public buildings and at workplaces, as well in taxis and commercial vehicles.

Health officials in the principality say the move will help stop children in Wales taking up smoking.

The measure has divided opinion and so far there are no plans to introduce the same rule across the border in England.

The new laws will also require shops selling e-cigarettes to join the same register that applies to sellers of cigarettes and other tobacco products. This is aimed at stopping illegal sales to children. It will become an offence in Wales to hand over e-cigarettes to anyone aged under 18.

Backing the tough new law are a number of health boards in Wales as well as the British Medical Association, the body registering all doctors within Britain.

Opposed to the new measures are a number of health charities, including the British Heart Foundation Wales, Action on Smoking and Health and Cancer Research UK. Many anti-smoking charities see e-cigarette use as preferable to smoking tobacco products, with many smokers switching to e-cigarettes as a way of quitting the habit.

George Butterwort from Cancer Research UK said: "E-cigarettes are an opportunity for people to move away from tobacco smoking which is very, very bad for their health, and we wouldn't want to put up any barriers to prevent people from quitting cigarettes."

Almost four out of five people opposed the new laws in a public consultation exercise across Wales last year.

Across Wales around 20 percent of the population still smoke cigarettes, with health chiefs aiming to see this reduced to 16 percent by 2020.

Drakeford said the Welsh government wanted to get the balance right between all the things that would make a big difference to people's health in the future "while not wanting to intrude on the legitimate rights people have to run their own lives."

He added: "The Welsh government has a responsibility to create the conditions which enable people to live healthy lives and avoid preventable harm to their health."

Across Britain 2.6 million people currently use e-cigarettes, up from 700,000 in 2010.

Restrictions on e-cigarettes already apply in Spain and Belgium, with discussions taking place about control measures in Ireland and France. Endit