SMOKERS smoke for the nicotine, but die from the tar. So said psychiatrist Michael Russell, who pioneered effective treatments to help people stop smoking.
Electronic cigarettes provide the nicotine without the tar, and are increasingly seen as an effective aid to quitting smoking. The second and third-generation versions mimic smoking even better, in that they appear more effective at delivering nicotine.
Advertisement
But just as e-cigarettes have taken hold, regulators are poised to gain new powers that will limit what is on sale and to whom. In the UK, e-cigarettes have been treated as consumer products, but from this year will have to meet the revised – or else gain approval as medical devices. Similar changes are . The fear is that many products will fall by the wayside, and this could put smokers off switching to vaping.
“We need a light touch that recognises the innovation behind effective alternatives to cigarettes”
There are some valid reasons for caution over e-cigarettes. We need to monitor their use by the young and prevent children from buying them, although what little use there is among teenagers is mostly by those that already smoke. Beyond this, most concerns focus on the variable standards to which products are made, the fact that nicotine is not only addictive but also toxic, and so on.
However, concerns over safety of vapour and nicotine cartridges are overstated, given that we breathe polluted air daily and store toxic bleach in our homes. And it is not clear that nicotine on its own is as addictive as when it is part of tobacco smoke, which contains chemicals that may enhance its addictive effect.
Regulation can also have unintended consequences, especially when only large firms have the resources to navigate it. E-Voke, similar to first-generation “cigalike” devices, has UK medical device approval and is available on prescription for smokers wishing to quit. Its maker? British American Tobacco.
Rather than regulating in a way that will force out many devices that ex-smokers prefer, a lighter touch is appropriate: one that recognises the innovation that created effective, even enjoyable alternatives to cigarettes.
(Image: Anadolu Agency/Getty)
This article appeared in print under the headline “What a drag”
