Responding to reports that President Trump is calling for a ban on flavoured e-cigarettes in America, Simon Clark, director of Forest, said:

“In the land of the free, consumer choice should be paramount. Prohibition never works and a ban on flavoured e-cigarettes will merely drive consumers, including children, to the unregulated black market.

“It would be a grossly disproportionate reaction because most of the current evidence suggests that vaping poses a significantly smaller risk than smoking.

“No-one wants to see children smoking or vaping but to ban flavoured e-cigarettes, which is one of the most attractive aspects of vaping, would discourage millions of smokers, young and old, from switching to a reduced risk product.

“In public health terms, that would be absolutely criminal.”