Read articles from Europe

ASH Deputy Chief Executive Hazel Cheeseman joins BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss the risk of vaping compared to smoking and what needs to be done to reduce youth vaping.

Efforts to cut cigarette smoking will be hampered by a ban on disposal vapes that is expected to be announced imminently, the Government has been warned. The vaping industry is braced for an announcement at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester that single-use vapes will be outlawed as part of a drive to stop children from becoming addicted to the devices. In May, Rishi Sunak voiced concerns concerns that products were being marketed at young children using bright colours and novelty flavours.

The message that vaping is 95% safer than smoking has backfired, encouraging some children to vape, says a top health expert. Dr Mike McKean treats children with lung conditions and is vice-president for policy at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He says the 2015 public messaging should have been clearer - vapes are only for adults addicted to cigarettes. Evidence on the possible health risks of vaping is still being gathered.

The French government have announced plans to ban disposable vapes, with the Prime Minister citing the 'gateway effect' of vapes leading young people to smoke. In this episode, Will Godfrey debunks outdated notions around the gateway effect, and the reaction of THR experts to this ban.

Vaping does not act as a gateway into smoking, the most comprehensive study carried out suggests. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London said there was “tentative” evidence that products such as e-cigarettes might be speeding up the demise of smoking. Professor Peter Hajek, director of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine’s Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London, said: “The results of this study alleviate the concern that access to e-cigarettes and other low-risk nicotine products promote smoking.

A new nationwide survey released [...] ahead of Stoptober shows nearly all (95%) ex-smokers see positive changes in their life as early as 2 weeks after quitting. Stoptober’s mass quit attempt will launch on 1 October, calling on smokers in England to join the thousands of others committing to quit. While smoking rates are declining, over 5 million adults in England still smoke and smoking remains the single biggest cause of preventable illness and death in the country - linked to 64,000 deaths a year.

France is planning to ban disposable vapes, or “puffs” as they’re known in the country, by the end of the year. The government is citing concerns over youth as justification—and claims that banning the vapes will help reduce smoking. On September 3, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne described an impending “new national plan to fight against smoking with, in particular, the prohibition of disposable electronic cigarettes, the famous ‘puffs’ which give bad habits to young people.”

Disposable vapes could still be given to smokers to help them quit cigarettes, despite the Government drawing up plans to ban them, i understands. Ministers are understood to be finalising plans to ban single-use vapes amid concerns they have sparked an epidemic of youth vaping across Britain, with a decision set to come as early as next week. However, health department sources suggested that disposable vapes could be still available to smokers under NHS “swap to stop” schemes, despite any potential ban.

The risk of oesophageal cancer is more than three times higher, and the risk of pancreatic cancer is twice as high in snus users than in others, according to a new study reported by NRK recently (link in Norwegian). Snus is a powdered tobacco, which today usually comes in a small pouch which is stuffed under the upper lip. "What we see in the studies that we have is that these occurrences of cancer follow the digestive tract," physician and researcher Bendik Brinchmann tells NRK. "What we also see again and again is that the mortality of the cancer, if you get it and use snus, becomes higher," he adds.

Vapes, unlike patches and nicotine gum, work particularly well for many would-be quitters because they go with the grain of human behaviour rather than demanding a hair-shirt approach. They mimic the physical activity of smoking while carrying a fraction of the risk (vapes do not burn tobacco, or produce tar or carbon monoxide). Disposable vapes offer the same convenience as cigarettes. You can buy one on the move, with no worries about refilling or charging your device. The Government’s imminent ban on disposable e-cigarettes may seem trivial, but it’s a vivid example of making the perfect the enemy of the good. [...]