Picture by Des Barry
The junior minister has written to Health Minister James Reilly and State’s chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, asking them to “clarify the legal status” of the products “for which the health effects are uncertain.”
He claims to have been approached by people “worried” by what he calls “glamorous advertising”, and he cites a World Health Organisation conclusion that until these devices are deemed safe consumers should be strongly advised not to use any of these products. Kehoe wants “strong regulation of these devices”.
Kehoe is the first prominent Irish politician to fall in line with a pattern emerging throughout Europe, and other parts of the world, where electronic cigarettes seem to be upsetting people almost as much as the real things.
Denmark, Belgium and Norway have banned them, as have Turkey, Brazil, Argentina and Singapore. Despite the absence of smoke — which means there can be no impact on non- smokers as caused by second hand smoke from real cigarettes — France is looking at banning their use in pubs and restaurants and other public places.
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