Letter sent to my MP........

[Jammy]

Had my first reply from one of my MEPs...

"Dear xxxx,


Thank you for your e-mail.


I can only confirm that I am completely against a ban on electronic cigarettes.


I am also against the EU to regulate this at all. Questions of this kind ought to be determined through our national democratic mechanisms.


Yours sincerely,
Daniel Hannan MEP"

to which I replied that it was heartening to see that at least one of our elected representatives had a fair and balanced view on e-cigs and that I hoped there was a mechanism in place through which he is able to register his support for the JURI proposal to remove e-cigs from the EU's TDP.

 

[Mawsley]

Had my first reply from one of my MEPs...

"Dear xxxx,


Thank you for your e-mail.


I can only confirm that I am completely against a ban on electronic cigarettes.


I am also against the EU to regulate this at all. Questions of this kind ought to be determined through our national democratic mechanisms.


Yours sincerely,
Daniel Hannan MEP"

to which I replied that it was heartening to see that at least one of our elected representatives had a fair and balanced view on e-cigs and that I hoped there was a mechanism in place through which he is able to register his support for the JURI proposal to remove e-cigs from the EU's TDP.

That's nice, but he doesn't say what he is going to do about it beyond wishing there was a system for governance in place that doesn't and will not exist.

He is a staunch pro-European and an MEP so exactly why is he decrying the EU's ability to do a job on this rather than his home nation? I suspect it's because he knows what you want to hear and he doesn't actually give a shit...let alone have any intention of doing anything whatsoever.

 

[Jammy]

Yeah, that's why I mentioned that I hoped he would support the JURI proposal in my reply.

 

[Senor Stuff]

Just sent my letter off to my MP, let's see what he comes back with

 

[SouthernVaper]

Just re-sent mine as I know they must be busy but nothing gets my goat more than no answer

 

[Mawsley]

Just re-sent mine as I know they must be busy but nothing gets my goat more than no answer

.

 

[SouthernVaper]

.[/QUOTE

lol
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

[SouthernVaper]

Must say I got a little bored of waiting and had a circular from my local councillors (had their email addresses on) so with very little thought I sent my letter to all those listed and had a speedy responce from one below

Dear Mr *****, ,
Thank you for the email . I am in agreement with you. It seems as if someone has realised the potential in regulating these vaporisers As a practice nurse in the past I welcome ANY thing that helps people quit smoking but sadly money is probably being lost in taxes by smokers who have quit !
I would happily support a campaign to ensure these are not used as another revenue stream for the govt .
They may however need checking to ensure people are getting exactly what it says on the tin ,so to speak as I have heard not all are doing so .
The MRHA are a strong body but people power is also strong and I hope Our MP will support this too
Kind regards,
CLlr Carolyn Heaps

Cllr Carolyn Heaps
Old Town ward councillor
Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Tourism , Leisure and Sports services .

 

[whipitup]

Still waiting replies from all of them, time for reminders I think!

 

[Jammy]

Had a reply from one of my MEPs...<o></o><u1>Thank you for contacting me regarding the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive.
Whist the overall objective of the revision is to improve the functioning of the internal market, it is expected that citizens in all Member States will benefit from improved public health.
I understand that as a previous smoker you are concerned by the idea that electronic cigarettes could be banned by this Directive. What is currently proposed in the tobacco directive would require e-cigarettes containing a nicotine concentration of more than 4mg per ml to fall under the pharmaceutical legislation that covers nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products such as nicotine patches and chewing gum.
As electronic cigarettes are still a relatively new invention, more research is being conducted before a final Directive can be agreed on. Evidence on the safety of e-cigarettes is limited and there is no evidence regarding the health effects of long term use.

There are also concerns surrounding the health effects of electronic cigarettes. Although preliminary tests of the original e-cigarettes produced by Ruyan, a Chinese electronics company, suggest that they are relatively harmless in comparison with smoking, there are now many different models on the market that have not been tested. Further, a draft review by the WHO's Tobacco Regulatory Group notes that the extent of nicotine uptake and the safety of e-cigarettes have yet to be established. In addition, a study on the acute pulmonary effects of using an e-cigarette found that there are immediate adverse physiological effects after short term use that are similar to some of the effects seen with tobacco smoking. Further, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that there is concern that nicotine delivery to the lung might result in stronger toxicological, physiological and addictive effects.

This evidence must be balanced against the numerous studies where smokers have been able to quit conventional cigarettes after taking up an e-cigarette.

My Liberal Democrat colleague in the European Parliament, Rebecca Taylor, is a Member of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee and is taking a strong interest in this issue.

She has suggested that the following points need to be taken into consideration:

· While it is clear that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than tobacco, nicotine does have some negative health effects, but the long term health impacts of using e-cigarettes are currently unknown;
· Expanding on the previous point, it may be appropriate to require e-cigarettes to come with a general health warning such as "may damage your health" until evidence is available to make a more precise warning;
· There are currently no standards in relation to the quality and safety of e-cigarettes, something which needs to be rectified for reasons of consumer protection;
· The aim of the regulation should be to keep e-cigarettes available as a harm reduction tool for adult smokers, while taking every precaution to ensure their use does not "renormalise" smoking and that they are not marketed in a way that broadens their appeal to non-smokers, especially young people. In order to guarantee this, it may be necessary to subject e-cigarettes to marketing restrictions such as minimum age of purchase requirements, forbidding free samples or below cost pricing, a ban on characterising flavours (e.g. chocolate) and advertising restrictions such as prohibiting billboards near schools, daytime TV adverts and adverts in magazines and websites aimed at young people.
· Following on from the previous point, e-cigarettes used in public places where smoking is forbidden or in front of children would also contribute to "renormalisation", so steps should be taken to avoid this, for example restricting the use of e-cigarettes in public places.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that whatever regulation is eventually put in place for e-cigarettes, there will be a transition period of several years before it comes into force. This would mean that the e-cigarette industry would have a number of years to comply with the legislation, so there would be no danger of the products disappearing overnight and existing e-cigarette users being left high and dry.
I hope this information is useful to you.

Yours sincerely,

Catherine Bearder MEP
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