Government must resist temptation to over-regulate e-cigarettes, says Forest

Thu 24th April, 2014

The number of people who use electronic cigarettes in the UK has tripled over the past two years to 2.1 million, according to a survey commissioned buy Action on Smoking and Health.

Simon Clark, director of the smokers' group Forest, said, "The increasing popularity of e-cigarettes is not surprising because for the first time we have a nicotine delivery system that mimics the act of smoking.

"They are a useful aid for smokers who wish to cut down or quit but they also provide an alternative to cigarettes in places where smoking is forbidden.

"There has been a lot of scaremongering about e-cigarettes but campaigners have to wean themselves off the idea that nicotine is bad. It can be addictive but it's no more harmful than caffeine.

"Government must resist the temptation to over-regulate e-cigarettes because there is no evidence they are harmful to the user or anyone else.

"Banning e-cigarettes in non-smoking environments makes no sense because the product is very different to a real cigarette. There's no combustion, no smoke, and no evidence that vaping encourages anyone to start smoking."

See: E-cigarette users in UK have 'tripled' since 2010 (BBC News)

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