Reducing Levels of Smoking

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:22 pm on 27 June 2018.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:22, 27 June 2018

Thank you for the question. We ran through this in the first version of the public health Bill that was not passed before the last Assembly election. At that time, there was real concern about the use of e-cigarettes, and it still remains, about the fact that they're often targeted at younger people, not as an alternative to smoking, and that we also can't be clear about what's in them because we don't regulate the make-up of e-cigarettes. So, I think it's honest to say that Public Health England have recognised that there is less risk from e-cigarettes than smoking. That is not the same as saying there is no risk. For different people, there will be different methods that help them to quit smoking, and that is what I would like to see. We will, of course, listen to the developing evidence base about all products within that that help people to give up smoking.