Mason Dunn is trying to kick a 10-a-day habit (Picture: SWNS)

Mason Dunn is a 14-year-old school kid trying to kick a 10-a-day cigarette habit.

In order to do that his mum bought him an e-cigarette, which releases nicotine without the tar and carbon monoxide.

She hopes to eventually wean him off vaping, but for the time being she says that it’s helping.

However she’s now embroiled in a disagreement with Mason’s school, Kearsley Academy in Greater Manchester, because teachers confiscated the e-cig.


Mason Dunn with his mum Sue (Picture: SWNS)

‘I am not happy about the fact he smokes in the first place, but we have tried everything to help him stop,’ Sue, Mason’s mum, said.



‘We have tried patches and have been to the doctor, but nothing worked, so my eldest son bought him an e-cigarette and it has helped him stop smoking cigarettes. He has really made an effort.

‘I went into school and explained the situation but was told it is against the school policy. He came home from school in a terrible state because he needed nicotine.

‘If it helps to prevent people from developing cancer at a later stage, I think it should be allowed.’

Sue added that Mason took up smoking, without her realising, when his father died.

Mason Dunn’s e-cigarette (Picture: SWNS)

Suzanne Pountain, the school’s headmistress, said: ‘Kearsley Academy is a no-smoking site. We have a duty of care to our students to reinforce this and discourage them from doing so.

‘We offer students access to the school nurse and if necessary pathways such as the smoke cessation programme, if this is needed.

‘We will continue to work with and support Mason within the guidelines of our policy.

‘For the safeguarding of all our students, smoking, including the use of any nicotine inhalation devices are not allowed.’

Vaping: What do the experts say? A report from Public Health England concluded last month that vaping is around 95 per cent less harmful than cigarette smoking. ‘Smoking remains England’s number one killer and the best thing a smoker can do is to quit completely, now and forever,’ Professor Kevin Fenton, Director of Health and Wellbeing at PHE, said in the report. ‘E-cigarettes are not completely risk free but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm.’ But experts from the British Medical Association are pushing for more rules to be placed on e-cigarette use – for example, by possibly making them prescription only. ‘Doctors want to see strong regulation of e-cigarettes, as a licensed medicinal product, to best reflect their use for harm reduction and ensure their effectiveness, quality, and safety,’ Dr Ram Moorthy, BMA Board of Science deputy chair, said. ‘There is a lack of robust research and evidence in this area, and any benefits or disadvantages to public health are not yet well established. Regulating e-cigarettes as a licensed medicinal product best reflects their use for harm reduction, ensures their effectiveness, quality, and safety, and provides the necessary controls on their promotion and sale.’ Last year the World Health Organisation also called for a ban on vaping indoors.

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