E-cigarettes ban: HSE action should be welcomed

The Health Services Executive’s decision to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in all health service facilities should be warmly welcomed as a step in curbing what could develop into an undesirable trend in nicotine use.

E-cigarettes, which are battery operated, resemble cigarettes, but they produce a vapour from a cartridge filled with nicotine that is inhaled by the user. The vapour exhaled is free of tar and other toxins found in cigarettes.

E-cigarettes are unregulated in Ireland and do not come under the smoking ban in the workplace. But this should not suggest that they are harmless. They contain nicotine, which is an addictive drug and have been banned in both Canada and Australia, pending research.