Comments on: Cloud of smoke surrounding the use of electronic cigarettes in Scottish companies.

By: Alisha

Alisha — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 09:50:47 +0000

What if it doesn’t look like a real cigarette? There are lots of models out there that don’t look like tobacco cigs at all like this one http://genecigs.com.au/ego-t-1100mah-starter-kit/ which looks more like a pen. So even if there were children at the workplace (which there logically shouldn’t be) it would be obvious that it wasn’t a tobacco product. That, and the lack of disgusting smell.

By: Aud

Aud — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:17:37 +0000

I am waiting for my first e cig to arrive and I have to say I’m looking forward to that more than any cigarette I have ever craved! I’ve read loads of reviews and cannot see the harm in using these whatsoever – quite frankly if it removes the health risk for me and saves me money I will be over the moon.
I’m really confused with companies like standard life though taking the view that employees still have to go outside with the real smokers – after all that is exposing them to passive smoke when they are obviously trying to cut down or quit! Are they not infringing the rights of the employee to stay smoke free? Also, and i know this will sound really morbid, but its true – with the business they are in encouraging the increase of life expectancy in their employees could help them cut down levels of absence due to smoking related illness, sick pay and ultimately death in service payments and more customers may outlive their term assurance policies thereby reducing payouts – seems simple to me – but maybe I’ve got it all wrong.

By: Brit

Brit — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 09:17:34 +0000

If Sheila Duffy of ASH Scotland & Standard Life wish to ban e-cigs merely because it looks like smoking, perhaps they should go the whole hog and ban their staff from drinking water – after all it may look as if the staff are drinking vodka!

By: carl

carl — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 05:32:21 +0000

I had smoked for the biggest part of my life,but have now been vaping for over two years and i do not ever want to become a smoker again,If companies like this are allowed to carry on with this sort of bahavour which i am not sure that they are,then what chance is there of stopping the thousands of people that do have the filthy habit.when will these people get real.

By: andy

andy — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:41:55 +0000

may i suggest emailing the company saying you will not be using their services and state your reason, and you will be recommending others to do the same, vote with your wallet!..this has to stop somewhere…these things are saving peoples lives.

By: Jacquie

Jacquie — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:39:17 +0000

I smoked for 45 years and have COPD as a result of smoking i tried patchs pills nic inhailor gum just about everything but nothing worked
I started using a e cig 6 months ago and have only had one drag of a cig since and it tasted terrible
While it wont cure my COPD my spirometory test as improved and i feel better
My lung specilist is happy for me to continue using my e cig
I dont work or sell for any e cig company

By: Rojeans

Rojeans — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:31:36 +0000

Great reporting. But I can’t help but feel some or most of the comments are even better! Standardgetalife should take note.

By: joseph mccoy

joseph mccoy — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 02:57:53 +0000

E cigarettes are not smoking, the law clearly defines smoking as: tobacco that has been lit. since e cigarettes contain neither tobacco or a flame of any sorts it is NOT SMOKING. it’s by product is water vapour: steam. is standard life going to ban kettles as well? this is more about control over their workers. it’s funny really we despise dictors of foreign countries yet we all go to work in a dictatorship, your employer dictates your working conditions.

By: DaveB

DaveB — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:42:05 +0000

History shows the rise and fall of puritans in society. Unfortunately quasi-scientific arguements based on dubious statistical analysis hold sway. Still as the Chinese curse goes “May you live in interesting times”.

By: Rod Sandcones

Rod Sandcones — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:06:41 +0000

What a shame Standard Life have taken the regressive approach to the electronic cigarette issue. There is a fundamental logic that appears to have been largely ignored; society has a heavily entrenched Nicotine culture that is unlikely to ever go away. The British Medical Association have written an extensive report on the matter and it noted that Nicotine itself (Being non carcinogenic) does not warrant any major cause for concern if it is delivered in products that eradicate the need for tobacco. So, the logic failure is this; People who have chosen to switch to electronic cigarettes have made a lifestyle choice where they have stepped away from the massively toxic killer that is a tobacco cigarette. Electronic cigarettes may by appearance deliberately mimic the aesthetic of a tobacco cigarette but all similarities end beyond that point. E-cigs do not pollute the air with carcinogenic smoke or tar particles nor do they emit carbon monoxide. Office workers dependant on Nicotine do not have to schedule time away from the desk to get their fix. If Standard life have a problem with Nicotine addiction, then do they have a stringent policy on the use of Nicotine gum/patches or oral sprays? The answer is probably ‘No’. Companies should take a far more progressive thinking approach to how their workers deal with chemical dependancy, after all most people drink coffee without being vilified and lots of people enjoy a drink after work. It could be argued that in both instances, potentially harmful dependancies are being enjoyed both in and out of the workplace. Standard Life would have been respected more if it had considered, ‘Does the electronic cigarette harm any employees who are not directly using it?’ There is no ‘passive vaping ‘ phenomenon, the inhaled Nicotine is absorbed into the lungs, the exhaled mist is water vapour. As I read recently, unless it were possible to drown someone via passive vapour inhalation, then there really isn’t a problem. If you have switched from regular cigarettes to electronic cigarettes, you have become an ex-smoker. This is the bottom line. Standard Life have obviously missed this point.