IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon has appeared on talkTV to discuss proposals to outlaw certain vapes because of their potential appeal to children.

Christopher said:

“[Vaping is] at least 95 per cent less dangerous than cigarettes. The reason they compare them to cigarettes is that most people who use them are smokers or ex-smokers.

“They’re not recommended for children – their sale has been banned to children for the last eight years and I think enforcing that ban would be more sensible than starting to ban different categories of e-cigarettes.

“There have been concerns about the ‘gateway effect’, but they’ve really been shown to be unfounded. The smoking rate among kids is incredibly low – only one per cent of secondary school children are regular smokers and nine per cent regular vapers. Ten years ago, about 4 per cent were smokers.”

Watch Christopher’s full appearance here (2:36:13).