Butt Out

E-cigarettes or vapes should be banned, as should normal cigarettes, since they have no positive benefits and can be dangerous but, in this case, they appeal to children or are being marketed to appeal to children. Although the local sites Google found included a requirement to be over 18 it is unlikely that brands like “Strawberry, Candy King, Mango Banana and Fat Rabbit” are named to appeal to the hardened smoking addict. The notion that they are an alternative to smoking is challenged by the fact that some of the available vapes contain nicotine despite this being illegal without a prescription.

One positive step has been the $462m (£372m) fine that E-cigarette manufacturer, Juul Labs, is paying after claims by six US states that they were targeting teenagers. They had denied targeting children for their products.

With so many active initiatives to solve the world’s problems why hasn’t banning smoking been attempted or is it the same as the problems with reducing the weapons in American households, the lobby groups and the profits being made by these companies. If so, they should be ashamed.

Take the cigarettes out of children’s mouths and their lives. NOW!

Dennis Fitzgerald,

Melbourne, Australia