Defense For E-cigarettes Gains

Momentum Prior To EU Parliament

Vote

As the European parliament is all settled to vote on the 8th of October this year to regulate and consider e-cigs as medical products, efforts to defend them against the regulation is also gathering momentum. A demonstration in Strasbourg is also scheduled to take place before the vote and according to Brice Lepoutre, Independent Association of Electronic-Cigarette Users president this is just the beginning of the revolution against tobacco consumption in all over the world.

This has been a proven fact that the number of smokers is declining, as more and more people are opting for vaping in the world. An estimated number of 7 million people are currently using electronic cigarettes as an alternative to traditional nicotine smoking exclusively in Europe. The sales of e-cigarettes in the U.S. are expected to rise at least three times by the end of the current financial year. Bonnie Herzog of the Wells Fargo Bank thinks that the currently available figures suggest that it will not take more than a decade for e-cigarettes to overtake ordinary tobacco cigarette sells if only allowed by the regulating authorities.

As more studies are being conducted on these products, e-cigs are certainly coming up as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes and they are also found to be pretty good in helping people to quit smoking. They are also better accepted by the nicotine gums and patches. They are mostly sold as leisure products and are generally covered by quality and safety standards. But everything is still not well under control and that certainly makes the regulators feel uneasy. There is certainly the need of maintaining a global safety standard. Obviously there is little parity about labeling and quality and there are a few other factors too that people required being concerned and careful about.

There is one worry that e-cigs can attract individuals who might otherwise have avoided nicotine consumption. E-cigarettes are certainly less harmful than conventional tobacco cigarettes but they too are addictive and that cannot be denied. Another thing that worries the regulating authorities is the fear that e-cigs might actually encourage people to smoke in places where smoking is prohibited. There is also a possibility that e-cigs can also re-glamorize smoking which is certainly losing in popularity due to well designed campaigns, tax increase and prohibiting restrictions.

One of the most important things required to be done is bring in strict product manufacturing standards. E-cigarettes are smoking cessation products but as they are not considered as medical products e-cig manufacturers are not required to seek prior approval for maintaining desired pharmaceutical quality standard. These things should also never be sold to children under a particular age and the quality control

criteria should also be strengthened if the desired results are to be achieved.