A group of tobacco experts have warned against heavy-handed regulations on e-cigarettes in a new study, which has been published in the journal “Addiction”.
Whilst there has been some debate regarding the popularity of vaping, and the effect it has on normalizing tobacco use, the seven international experts who wrote the study have argued that if electronic alternatives are encouraging the public to move away from traditional tobacco products, a hostile approach to e-cigarettes should be treated with caution.
“While all are agreed that efforts to discourage combustible tobacco products, especially cigarettes, should continue, there is more controversy about the marketing of new vaporized nicotine products, especially e-cigarettes, because of disagreement about whether they will complement or undermine successful tobacco control efforts…In the United States, increasing e-cigarette use has been accompanied by an unusually large reduction in adult and youth smoking prevalence.”
Similarly, in Britain the national percentage of adult smokers has dropped from 24% to 18% since 2009, whilst e-cigarette use has increased by 40% since 2011 alone, and continue to rise.
The study in “Addiction”, which was funded by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute on Drug Abuse points out that by making electronic devices less appealing by a negative portrayal in the media, we run the risk of less individuals moving away from traditional tobacco products, which would have grave health implications.
