A RECENT news article stated that 6 per cent of 10 to 11 year olds in Wales had reported using an e-cigarette, with two per cent saying they had smoked tobacco.

These figures are being used to vilify e-cigarettes when they should in fact be seen as a huge positive.

Although I haven’t been able to find directly comparable data from before e-cigarettes became popularised, research published in 2009 shows that four per cent of Year 8 boys and five per cent of Year 8 girls said they smoked regularly or occasionally. Five per cent of Year 8 girls said they smoked regularly or occasionally.

Clearly, the number who identify as regular or occasional smokers would be far lower than those reporting as having tried smoking, so These figures would appear to indicate a significant reduction in the total number of young children using nicotine products, with an even more dramatic shift away from traditional smoking to the immeasurably less harmful e-cigarette.

I’m not suggesting that we should promote the use of e-cigarettes to children, but given a choice between traditional tobacco products and e-cigs, I know which one I would prefer to catch my child experimenting with behind the bike sheds.

B Wilkes, Penrhiw Terrace, Newport