Tynwald consultation on increasing lung cancer

Lung cancer has ravaged families across the globe for the last 70 years, a disease primarily caused by one culprit—smoking. Every family in our community has felt it in one way or another. Every family has lost someone or witnessed the slow, agonising decline of a loved one to this deadly disease. This harm has caused immense emotional pain and devastation in our communities, stripping away too many lives far too soon.

But here’s the truth: we’ve made remarkable progress. Thanks to modern alternatives like vapes, the UK and the Isle of Man now boast some of the lowest smoking rates in the world. And it’s no coincidence that as vaping has become more accessible, fewer people are smoking. Fewer people are dying from lung cancer. It’s that simple.

So why, then, would we consider taking a step backwards?

Banning disposable vapes—this lifeline for so many ex-smokers—could drive some number of people back to the very habit that caused so much devastation to previous generations. We know, without question, that smoking causes cancer. It is a killer. And by banning disposable vapes, we risk pushing some individuals back into the arms of this lethal addiction.

I don’t think the proposers of this regulation want people to die from lung cancer. They do not intend such consequences. But it is still the likely result – and the consequences are real, even if unwanted.

What’s being proposed in Tynwald is not just misguided—it’s dangerous. We are staring down a proposal that will very likely result in the deaths of people from lung cancer. It is extraordinary that this chamber is even considering a policy that, based on all the evidence we have, will probably cause some people to return to smoking and die as a consequence.

We need to be clear about the stakes here. This isn’t just about litter, single-use plastics, or some ill-conceived idea of public health. It’s about lives—real lives—that will be lost if people are denied the safer alternative to smoking. We must not let that happen.

You can submit your contribution to the Isle of Man’s consultation on this issue here.