Electronic cigarettes are relatively new to the market and have not yet been the focus of the sort of control applied to tobacco products.
The growth in use of the nicotine vapourising devices, however, has rightly prompted calls for regulation to protect children in particular.
One of the attractions of so-called e-cigs to smokers is that they can be used as an aid to quitting, by providing the nicotine ‘hit’ minus the more harmful side products of a traditional cigarette.
So, while they are not registered by the NHS as a smoking cessation product, e-cigarettes have been shown to be more effective than traditional aids to quitting.
The balance that requires to be struck is in promoting the benefit of helping smokers give up while dissuading current non-smokers from taking up e-cigarettes as a simple replacement for tobacco products.
There has not yet been enough research into the ingredients of e-cigarettes to determine whether they carry any health risks, and that must be a priority.
We must not repeat the mistake of tobacco being promoted as safe to previous generations.
Therefore, it is right that there should be age restrictions and marketing control to ensure they are never seen to appeal to children.
But we must balance that against the need to harness the potential e-cigs have as a tool for reducing the number of smokers even further.
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