Last week, on the 6th of February, ITV broadcasted a programmed entitled ‘How Safe Is Your Vape?’. This is something we were involved with, as we were informed that it would lead the public to make informed decisions around the safety of vaping opposed to smoking cigarettes.
Although we felt that the customers featured in the show, were positive and shone a positive light in what switching E-cigarettes had done for them, the reporter, Jonathan Maitland, used leading questions which may have encouraged some responses to come across as negative.
We have also since been informed that the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has been denied to pass comment, something which fails to give a right to respond to other manufacturers and retailers. With this in mind, we feel that there was an unfair balance to both sides of the argument.
With regards to some parts of the issues raised and looked at in the programme, we feel it paramount to address some of these to reduce confusion:
Vaping Safety in the US and UK
Within the programme, Maitland looked at cases of two young people who had died or been injured and questioned if vaping had played a part in this.
Regarding the case in America, there was no mention that the majority of deaths caused were due to the use of THC and Vitamin E acetate within these liquids, substances which are banned in the UK.
Showing Ewan Fisher’s case, also exposed some issues within the segment. Although it is clear Mr Fisher experienced an allergic reaction, this is something that is incredibly rare and often is linked to other underlying or know allergies. Unfortunately, this is something that was not made clear within the report
Guidance in America and the UK
During the segment on guidance in the United States, several news report clips were shown. This promoted the fact that the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still upheld the stance of wishing to promote a blanket warning over vaping, something that was scrapped in January of this year, before the programme was produced.
Customer Statements
The segment filmed with customers of our stores was edited to give the view of them being addicted and Maitland seemed to push for the admittance if this.
This is something we found unfairly looked at as, we understand, as vapers ourselves, that while Nicotine is still an addictive substance, devices and liquids offer a way to deliver this at a consistent level which would not cause concern or harm.
Maitland also fails to look at the ways that Customers are asked various questions to ensure that they can make an informed choice, with a wide variety of products to support all needs and lifestyles.
We feel that, although the programme also interviewed representatives from Public Health England and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vaping (APPG) who spoke in a positive light for vaping, Maitland continued to push for negative responses from them, which again created an unfair balance to the programme.
There was little mention of the impact of smoking cigarettes, of which has shown results of over 200 deaths daily in the UK and we feel it left for little discussion points on this in comparison to the well known and proven benefits for switching to vaping.
If you have seen the programme and have any questions, we are always happy to discuss these with you both instore and online. Further to this, we also will continue to strive in helping any customers who wish to make the switch from cigarettes to vaping in a safe and well informed way.
House of Vapes - Team