Welsh Assembly, Work With Us Not Against Us On Ecigs

[James]

A call out to the Welsh Government: http://www.ecigarettedirect.co.uk/ashtray-blog/2013/12/welsh-assembly-ecig-ban.html Let me know what you think!

 

[yodadude]

It will fall on deaf ears because at the end of thhe day, they are losing £5 per day, per person that switches. So far, the gov in general as taking 1.3 million users as base figure....is losing out on £32,500,000 per year because of us. I have a feeling they don't like that figure, especially when ecig users are nearer 2 million which will add around 30% to that figure.

 

[Sassy]

Shared on Twitter with a mention to them in the tweet!

 

[Dingbat]

It will fall on deaf ears because at the end of thhe day, they are losing £5 per day, per person that switches. So far, the gov in general as taking 1.3 million users as base figure....is losing out on £32,500,000 per year because of us. I have a feeling they don't like that figure, especially when ecig users are nearer 2 million which will add around 30% to that figure.

But then factor-in the claimed cost of treating smoking-related illnesses. Using ASH's figures (so hardly biased in either vapers' or smokers' favour)...

Research commissioned by ASH in 2010 has shown that the cost to the NHS of treating diseases caused by smoking is approximately £2.7 billion a year. Another study put the estimated cost as high as £5.2 billion. A report by the Policy Exchange in 2010 estimated the total cost to society of smoking to be £13.74 billion. This includes the £2.7bn cost to the NHS but also the loss in productivity from smoking breaks (£2.9bn) and increased absenteeism (£2.5bn). Other costs include: cleaning up cigarette butts (£342 million), the cost of fires (£507m), the loss of economic output from the death of smokers (£4.1bn) and passive smokers (£713m). However, it is also estimated that about £380 million a year is being saved by the NHS as a result of public health strategies such as the ban on tobacco advertising and the creation of the stop smoking services which have resulted in fewer people smoking.6
In the 2011-12 financial year the Government spent £88.2 million on the stop smoking services in England plus an additional £66.4m on medicinal aids (eg nicotine replacement therapy).10
Expenditure on mass media health campaigns on smoking in 2010-11 was £460,000.11

The Treasury earned £9.5 billion in revenue from tobacco duties in the financial year 2011-
2012 (excluding VAT).17 This amounts to 2% of total Government revenue. Including VAT at
an estimated £2.6bn, total tobacco revenue was £12.1bn.18 The price of a pack of 20 premium
brand cigarettes currently costs around £7.98, of which £6.17 (77%) is tax.19

You'd think they would be grateful for people switching to a safer alternative!

(Source http://www.ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_121.pdf)

 

[yodadude]

This is very true.

 

[Dingbat]

In fact, that ASH dcument is a potential goldmine of numbers which vapers can use.

Such as fire risk. (ASH say it costs £507m per annum)

Cigarettes and other smoking materials are the primary cause of fatal accidental fires in the home and have claimed the lives of 1,231 people in the UK over the past ten years. In 2011-12, smokers’ materials accounted for 31 deaths in Great Britain - over a third of all accidental dwelling fire deaths. Smokers’ materials are also the third biggest cause of non-fatal casualties in dwelling fires (after cooking materials and other electrical appliances). In 2011-12, there were 781 casualties.

And how many fires can be attributed to vaping? Very few, I would have thought apart from alleged exploding batteries.