MORE DON’T MISS

  • How does ‘Botox free’ Felicity Kendal look this good at 67? The Good Life’s Barbara Good is… still looking good!
  • The five things he’s thinking when he first sees you naked and vice versa! Sex expert Tracey Cox on what goes through our heads when partners strip off
  • Emma Roberts goes on West Hollywood shopping spree after discussing Aunt Julia’s ‘dirty mouth’ on Jimmy Kimmel Live Looked chirpy
  • A living bereavement When ESTHER RANTZEN spoke up for couples denied access to their grandchildren, she triggered a flood of heart rending stories
  • He’s still a bachelor! Kiefer Sutherland denies that he is dating actress Sofia Karstens ‘Been out ‘once or twice, but there’s nothing more to it.,’ says actor’s rep
  • You’re supposed to be looking at the shoes! Australian glamour Cheyenne Tozzi flashes a hole lotta’ leg in photo shoot for shoe brand Wanted’s new range
  • So THAT’S how she stays trim! Cheyenne Tozzi stocks up on green beans and does dressed down with style while grocery shopping in Sydney
  • EXCLUSIVE Tori Spelling’s new crisis She needs major spinal surgery but refuses the operation because ‘her life with Dean will spin further out of control’
  • What a difference some heels make! Halle Berry goes from slacker to slicker on set of new astronaut series In a white T shirt and cut off cargo trousers
  • Off duty beauty Karolina Kurkova enjoys some rare downtime with her two leading men after a busy few days glamming it up with the fashion set
  • Ivanka Trump reveals how she transformed into the belle of the Met ball in candid set of behind the scenes pictures Real family effort
  • Ben Affleck laughs off card counting scandal as he is spotted after being banned from blackjack at Las Vegas casino Making a gas stop
  • Little boy who says he went to Heaven then came back! It’s gripped America and become a Hollywood film a four year old’s vivid account of meeting God
  • Having an O moment! Oprah Winfrey, 60, declares age is just a number in a stunning tight red gown Looking younger than ever
  • London calling! Lindsay Lohan works demure blouse, flirty miniskirt and pull up socks for another night of partying We thought she had calmed down…
  • How the Big Yin met the Grim Reaper… and got a big laugh CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night’s TV Every murder needs a mortuary…
  • Fat Amy joins the army! Rebel Wilson is 2014’s Goldie Hawn in remake of 1980’s classic Private Benjamin Played Fat Amy in 2012’s Pitch Perfect
  • What a sport! Rita Ora steps out in baggy basketball jersey and favourite boots… after wearing them with VERY low cut dress for dinner with Calvin Harris
  • Fair ladies! Aussie model Ruby Rose does ladylike glamour by covering up tattoos as she steps out with fianc e Phoebe Dahl Loved up couple
  • Former ER star Mekhi Phifer ‘files for bankruptcy with debts totalling $1.3million’ And is claiming around $67,000 in assets
  • Motherhood is a walk in the park for Bethenny Frankel as she dotes over Bryn during a playdate Life is still one big picnic for Bethenny
  • A walk to remember Tom Felton and his girlfriend Jade Olivia load up their car with canine supplies as they head out with their dog
  • What did she say? J Lo is so blown away by Jena Irene’s Elvis cover on American Idol that she mouths the word ‘f ‘ Calm down!
  • ‘I knew something wasn’t right’ Michelle Heaton tells Lorraine about the time her baby Aaron Jay contracted viral meningitis in first TV interview
  • Make up free Amber Rose keeps her figure under wraps in baggy hoodie as she takes her ‘Lil Angel’ Sebastian grocery shopping Unusually shy
  • Is THAT how she got discovered? Charlize Theron makes a mockery of her catwalk roots by pulling cringe worthy ‘model faces’ in SNL promotional video
  • ‘Child abuse is an issue that everyone should feel passionate about stopping’ Abbey and Melinda Messenger are ambassadors for NSPCC
  • ‘I never thought I’d have children, I never thought I’d be in love’ Angelina Jolie opens up in rare interview about Brad, babies, and her rebellious twenties
  • Brandi Glanville displays her long legs in thigh skimming frock at Mother’s Day breast cancer luncheon At the Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel
  • Inside Bette Midler’s multimillion dollar New York Penthouse Who needs the wind beneath your wings when you’ve Manhattan under your feet?
  • That’s where you get your curls from! Justin Timberlake looks casual as he leaves Copenhagen hotel with his wavy haired mom Lynn ahead of gig
  • ‘For us, it’s all about being together’ The Bachelor Australia’s Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich reveal they are still madly in love seven months on from show
  • Double take! Agyness Deyn shows off longer locks as she is pictured for the first time in costume on set of movie Sunset Song In shabby period outfit
  • Model Erica Packer’s forgotten singing career Australian billionaire James Packer’s ex wife dabbled in music… just like Miranda Kerr Who knew?
  • Pharrell Williams reveals stepping into the spotlight with his hit song Happy has been a ‘shock’ after decades behind the scenes as he fronts W Art
  • Ryan Gosling coyly reveals he’s still with Eva Mendes as he wears necklace stamped with her dog Hugo’s name at movie premiere
  • She got over that quickly! Made In Chelsea’s Emma Miller walks arm in arm with Spencer Matthews after blasting him on the show
  • ‘There was never any risk of anyone getting hurt’ Aussie TV presenter Karl Stefanovic speaks out about the James Packer and David Gyngell brawl
  • Millie Mackintosh makes the most of her tan as she puts toned legs on display in striking printed dress for Irish Derby launch In Dublin
  • Make up free Samantha Womack, 41, shows off her natural beauty as she takes a break from the drama of EastEnders Looked glowing
  • ‘You’re a mom not a chef and let the rules slide sometimes’ Six months pregnant Savannah Guthrie reveals the top lessons her mother taught her
  • Kelly Rutherford gets an A plus in classic black sweater and skirt to attend Young Leaders Now dinner in NYC Toughest battle of her life to win back her children
  • Katherine Heigl returns to the small screen fours years after quitting Grey’s Anatomy as NBC drama State Of Affairs is picked up Wide to small screen
  • Is she pregnant again? Pink ‘expecting her second child with husband Carey Hart’ A potential sibling for her daughter Willow, who turns two next month
  • What’s her fitness spell? Bewitching Jenna Dewan shows off her post baby curves in purple top and jeans on set of show Back into shape
  • ‘Stop thinking thin and start thinking HEALTHY’ Biggest Loser host Alison Sweeney on how she lost 30lbs and kept it off Fitness to fuel her mind
  • ‘You picked on the wrong man’ Broadcaster Ben Fogle reveals that he gave black eye to the mugger who tried to steal his bag
  • ‘You’re not fit enough for Hooters!’ Formerly obese woman loses
    128lbs to land job at sexy restaurant chain after man’s cruel jibe
    She showed them!
  • All change! Victoria Beckham steps out in a preppy green collared sweater… after opting for sleek blue ensemble ahead of annual Met Gala
  • Kerry Katona breaks down as she recalls terrifying moment daughter Dylan Jorge Rose stopped breathing in first TV appearance since birth
  • Back down to earth After a whirlwind week of parties Lily Allen is reunited with her daughter Ethel Back on mummy duty after trip Stateside
  • New couple alert? Robert Pattinson’s rumoured girlfriend identified as 22 year old model Imogen Ker Were introduced by Dakota Fanning
  • Eau de Cheryl! As Ms Cole prepares to launch her first fragrance she releases a VERY sultry peek at her ad campaign Time to jump on the perfume bandwagon
  • Aloha! Alesha Dixon wears Hawaiian print strapless dress with peplum detail to dine at upmarket restaurant Looked stunning as she left Nobu in Mayfair
  • Back to the grindstone! Bohemian Jade Jagger opens gem of a store in New Bond Street as she goes upmarket Pregnant star previously had Notting Hill store
  • FIRST LOOK Kate Moss is the ultimate boho babe in behind the scenes images from Rimmel campaign Shows off her flawless skin and perfect pout
  • ‘Diaper buddies!’ Jessica Simpson is the gushing mom as she shares sweet snapshot of her children Maxwell and Ace Both in nappies
  • Less is more! Padma Lakshmi opts for elegant midnight blue halterneck (and NO accessories) as she joins Tyra Banks at Flawsome Ball
  • Pixie Geldof seen for first time since tragic death of sister Peaches as she attends Miley Cyrus concert with close friend Nick Grimshaw
  • Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden showcases her slender legs in tight white jeans as she dines out with friends Very tight jeans!
  • It’s morphin’ time! Power Rangers set for a new live action movie franchise What colour ranger was your favourite?
  • The Brook of love Kelly can’t hold back the girly giggles as she enjoys night out with fianc David McIntosh Couple back in London after LA holiday
  • Sea change Shailene Woodley teams ocean blue dress with beached out wet hair as she promotes The Fault In Our Stars in Miami On the promo trail
  • Miley encourages fans ‘to kiss members of the same sex’ and says she hopes they’re on drugs… as she wears Union Jack leotard during first London gig
  • Willow Smith, 13, raises eyebrows as she is pictured lying in bed with 20 year old actor Moises Arias Image posted on Instagram
  • Post baby beauty Emily Blunt displays her enviably toned figure in off duty ensemble just two months after giving birth In skinny jeans
  • One last puff before Miley! Kate Moss greedily smokes a cigarette as she makes surprise appearance at O2 for raunchy singer’s first UK show
  • Date night! Matt Damon takes wife Luciana Barroso out to dinner after revealing he would consider returning to the Bourne series In West Hollywood
  • Attack of the selfie Kim Kardashian unwittingly gets pictured in fan’s photo after he sneaks up and snaps her on his phone She looked bemused
  • ‘I’m broody we’re trying for a baby’ Danniella Westbrook reveals she longs for a family with toyboy fiance Tom Richards Rushing in…
  • Jourdan Bennett! Ms. Dunn is at her sultry best as she shoots new cosmetics commercial on the streets of New York Far from mellow yellow
  • No sign of tiring yet! Johnny Depp enjoys ANOTHER night out with Amber Heard in NYC but leaves his walking stick at home Party animals
  • Principles, Prada and gang decamp to Venice in Italy! But the themes of loyalty and lust prevailed on Made In Chelsea, writes Jim Shelley
  • Sibling selfie! Actress AnnaLynne McCord reveals her joy at becoming a big sister in sweet picture with her newborn brother She’s 26 years older
  • As if! Clueless star Alicia Silverstone reunites with castmates Stacey Dash and Eliza Donovan for special screening of the cult film Cher, Dionne and Amber
  • Star in stripes! Kristin Chenoweth shows off slim figure in Phillies shirt for powerhouse performance of national anthem at the baseball Philadelphia game
  • Such a drag! Zac Efron and Seth Rogan get in touch with their feminine sides on The Tonight Show Looking good, ladies…
  • SPOILER ALERT A special day in Summer Bay as Home And Away cast film scenes for Marilyn and John’s wedding Finally tied the knot
  • Coronation Street legend Jean Alexander reveals she no longer watches the soap because there is ‘too much sex’ Played Hilda Ogden
  • Beck on form! David Beckham is greeted by fans as he leaves Victoria in New York and jets off for basketball match in Miami Had been in NYC
  • She’s a cut above the rest! Christy Turlington treats herself to a visit to a hair salon in New York Got to maintain those model good looks
  • Chloe Sevigny shows off her trim pins in black skater skirt while out and about with American Pie actress Natasha Lyonne Girls’ day out
  • Lightning DOES strike twice Rita Ora scores another fashion fail in shapeless printed tracksuit… day after leading ‘worst dressed’ at the Met Ball
  • FIRST LOOK Kim, Khloe and Kourtney unveil their summer range for Lipsy… but why aren’t they modelling it this time? Why Kouldn’t they?
  • The (new) White Queen! Emily Berrington turns heads in elegant lace dress for 24 Live Another Day premiere with Kiefer Sutherland in London
  • Still turning heads! Kate Bosworth wows in sexy leather shorts after stealing the show at the Met Gala Actress looked super skinny in her ensemble
  • The morning after! Sarah Silverman and Michael Sheen look cosy after first red carpet appearance together His ex girlfriend Rachel McAdams was there too
  • Meet Grace Kelly’s American granddaughter! Prince of Monaco’s child Jazmin Grace Grimaldi hits red carpet at The Immigrant premiere
  • Made in Greece Lucy Watson posts revealing holiday snaps as she displays her trim figure in white floral bikini on last day of her trip All eyes were on her
  • Shouldn’t you be grieving? The Corrie cast cheer at Tina McIntyre’s funeral before scoffing on tea and biscuits Death hasn’t aired yet
  • ‘I eat like a horse but I train like one too’ Erin McNaught hits back at online trolls after skinny bikini snap and says being overweight is ‘unhealthy’
  • ‘I’ll never stress about being skinny’ Sam Faiers says she’ll never diet again’ after falling ill with Crohn’s Disease ‘put things in perspective’
  • Like mother, like daughter! Kate Beckinsale steps out in similar grey scarf as her mum Judy Loe while shopping in London They’re notoriously close
  • Caught on camera Shocking moment Nicholas Hoult takes flaming shot… with the help of X Men co star James McAvoy Post shoot celebrations
  • What good sports! Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian enjoy a low key night bowling while sisters Kim and Kendall glam it up at the Met Gala
  • Well that’s different! Kendall Jenner swaps satin couture for le
    ather pants the day after the Met Gala
    From high fashion to casual in 24 hours

Boom in e-cigarette sales divides smoking campaigners

Buy cartons of cigarettes online|buy cigarettes cheap????

In the window of a hairdresser’s in a west London side street, there is an array of brightly coloured little bottles, which the casual passer by who doesn’t look too closely might assume had something to do with hair conditioning. References to best “juice” don’t immediately give the game away. You probably need to have come across vaping already to realise that you are looking at the paraphernalia beloved by aficionados of e cigarettes.

Wetherspoons has banned them and Megabus routinely announces to passengers that they cannot use them on its coaches after a scare when police were called because somebody saw steam drifting out of a holdall. But a grassroots revolution is going on and e cigarettes are booming. More than 1.3 million people now use them in Britain.

The public health community is seriously divided about e cigarettes. Some believe they are a breakthrough and will save thousands of lives because it is the tar in tobacco that kills not the nicotine. But others say we should be trying to wean people off an addictive drug like nicotine they fear that e cigarettes are already being used as a stalking horse by the tobacco companies, who want to re normalise the pariah habit.

This month, British American Tobacco ran its first advert on television in years for a brand of e cigarette made by a subsidiary company. Philip Morris has also got in on the act. It is making e cigarettes that look and are marketed just like the tobacco products that were banned from our screens and magazines.

Steve, who runs the Vapeshack above the hairdresser’s in West Ealing, says it’s not cool young people who come through the doors in search of a healthier nicotine fix but older people who have tried and failed to kick the smoking habit. “It’s hardcore smokers who have tried everything. There was an Irish chap who use to smoke 70 a day. He bought a kit off me three months ago and he hasn’t had a cigarette since.

“He was in that theatre when the ceiling fell in at a performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and he was just scrabbling on the floor looking for it his e cigarette .”

Steve himself had a 20 a day habit two years ago. “A friend of mine had a kit and I tried it and it was great. He got me one and that was it. I managed to well, you can’t call it quit because you still have the nicotine habit but I managed to change completely. I think it’s much more satisfying than patches and gum. It’s the action.”

He has never had a problem finding places to vape even on a flight to Spain with one of the bargain airlines. He surreptitiously blew vapour at the floor, only to realise that a couple of other passengers were vaping quite openly. He wouldn’t do it next to somebody who is eating though, he says. It has an odour a different one depending on what flavour you prefer.

The UK government wanted to clamp down on e cigarettes and have them all regulated as medical devices, which would require stringent testing. It has been wrong footed in Europe, where the European Parliament has decided they are consumer products unless the cartridges contain more than 20mg/ml of nicotine. Although the Department of Health said that it would ban them from sale to under 18s, it is still working out what else to do. “We have no further clarification on how the UK will regulate e cigarettes,” said a spokesman. “This issue is still being considered as part of the new European tobacco products directive that is in the final stages of negotiation. Once the directive is finalised, we will work through the best way of implementing it.” A request for an interview with the chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, who has voiced concerns about e cigarettes, was turned down.

A damning report commissioned by the World Health Organisation last December from three leading scientists Rachel Grana, Neal Benowitz and Stanton A Glantz of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California said “Television and radio have been unavailable to the cigarette and other tobacco companies to market their products in the US (as well as much of the world) since the 1970s. E cigarette advertising on television and radio is mass marketing of an addictive nicotine product for use in a recreational manner to new generations who have never experienced such marketing. This pervasive marketing may have implications for existing smokers as well.”

Martin McKee, professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has spoken out more forcefully than most against e cigarettes and has been denounced in turn by the vaping community, many of whom are now evangelical about their new habit.

“My view at the moment is that these are things that have been around since the 1960s and people had not paid attention to them. Then suddenly the tobacco industry got interested,” he said. He is alarmed to see celebrities such as Lily Allen vaping and an advert for e cigarettes broadcast during Downton Abbey. More recently, the Netflix remake of House of Cards featured Kevin Spacey as US vice president Frank Underwood substituting an e cigarette for tobacco. “Addiction without the consequences,” remarks Underwood.

“The advertisements they are using are almost identical to the ones the tobacco industry used historically,” said McKee, who believes this is about the rehabilitation of cigarettes.

“The smoking ban in public places has been self enforcing,” he said. But steam rising from an e cigarette can look very like smoke rising from an old style fag. Other drinkers in pubs will be less and less likely to intervene once they’ve made that mistake a couple of times, he believes.

McKee acknowledges that a lot of people in public health say e cigarettes are much safer than tobacco. “Absolutely, but that is not the issue here,” he said. “They are missing the point.”

But while some suspect Big Tobacco’s involvement, the e cigarette lobby accuses Big Pharma of dirty tricks. Drug companies make the nicotine gum and pills that have been licensed for stopping smoking and are handed out by the NHS. The pro vaping lobby cites a letter sent to all MEPs from one of these companies, arguing that the permitted nicotine level in e cigarettes should be no higher than 12mg/ml and claiming that nicotine is as toxic as strychnine and arsenic.

Rubbish, say those who support e cigarettes, who liken the effect of nicotine to that of perfectly legal caffeine and alcohol. In fact, they say, it is a great deal safer than alcohol.

The leading voice in support of e cigarettes in Britain is Clive Bates, who a decade ago headed Ash Action on Smoking and Health which fought the tobacco companies full time. He has always been in favour of harm reduction, he says, a phrase in common parlance in drug addiction.

“Obviously the best thing is to quit nicotine completely, but we don’t consider stopping all alcohol or caffeine consumption as a public health goal,” he said. “There is no reason to think they are less harmful drugs than nicotine.

“There is a deep conflation in public health between the drug nicotine and the harm caused by smoking. If tobacco was not causing so much harm, we would not be so concerned,” he said. Before we understood the cancer and heart risks, smoking was considered a way to relax and alter mood, he said.

E cigarettes are a way to take the harm out of the drug use. As things stand, 1 billion people will die from smoking related diseases, the WHO says. ” There are not really many other good ideas,” said Bates, who points to the use of snus in Sweden a derivative of snuff. Sweden has a smoking prevalence of 13%, compared with 27% in Britain and 28% across Europe, according to the Eurobarometer figures (the UK government’s figure is 20%). “They have dramatically lower levels of cancer and heart disease,” he says.

There are fears that young people who would not have smoked may take up e cigarettes, but Bates says there is little evidence of that as yet. Most people using the devices appear to have been heavy smokers.

Bates is not the only anti smoking campaigner to support e cigarettes. Derek Yach, who led the successful tobacco control initiative of the WHO over a decade ago, agrees with him. “My view is that we failed to build a nicotine policy till now. E cigarettes and related non combustibles are growing super fast, and if they do displace tobacco, it could be the most positively disruptive technology ever, with the potential to bring down the death rate faster than the quit programmes we now have.”

But there is scant actual scientific evidence yet that e cigarettes help people quit smoking and some people do both. The official position of most public health bodies in the UK is that stopping the nicotine habit is the way to go.

Dr John Middleton, vice president for policy at the Faculty of Public Health, said his institution believes that “e cigarettes have some potential to help people to stop smoking and therefore reduce the harms that causes. This is particularly the case where people already smoke and have long term conditions.”

But the faculty is concerned about the e cigarette firms’ mass marketing. “We believe incitement to nicotine addiction of any kind should be discouraged. Mass marketing of e cigarettes is bringing the smoking habit to more young people, just at the time when young people are being discouraged from starting smoking tobacco.”

The faculty, like the British Medical Association, believes e cigarettes should be regulated as a medicine and it wants curbs on its advertising and promotion.

Around 1.3 million Britons now use e cigarettes Photograph Mike Segar/Reuters Getting up a head of steam

E cigarettes date back at least to 1963, when Herbert A Gilbert patented a non tobacco cigarette that heated a nicotine solution and produced steam, but it was never manufactured.

Many small companies have set up to manufacture a range of devices and nicotine liquids. But the big tobacco companies were late entrants to the field.

Flavours matter, say supporters. Nicotine has none. Many people progress from a tobacco flavour to fruits and mint but the companies deny these are designed to attract young people.

Look alike disposable e cigarettes, resembling the tobacco version, are also similar in cost, but many people graduate to other sorts of devices with a refillable tank and longer battery life, which are less expensive.

E cigarette supporters oppose the new EU rules enforcing medical regulation over 20mg/ml of nicotine, saying hardened smokers need more than that to switch. They also object to rules restricting the advertising of flavours.

Most people agree e cigarettes need some sort of regulation, at least to ensure standards, which are currently very variable. The WHO says while there are less toxins than cigarettes, there are some.

This article was amended on 24 February 2014 to correct the name of Wetherspoons, from Weatherspoons as the original said.