With the much-dreaded date now in the past and the Tobacco Products Directive in full swing, what’s next for e-cigs and the vaping community?
The changes to vaping and e-cig accessories are relatively minimal, particularly when compared with the EU regulation of cigarettes, what vaping is designed to emulate and replace.
E-liquid, the element that contains nicotine and flavour and is inhaled by the vaper, is now capped in 10ml bottles and e-liquid tanks are limited at 2ml capacity. In addition, e-liquid is capped at 20mg nicotine.
Today, e-cigs are available from numerous brands and with varying features so vapers can select their perfect vape kit.
The fresh regulations will most likely be deemed as manageable but the vaping community is not completely out of the woods yet. It has been suggested that vaping flavours can entice young people, and thus, have faced criticism.
Smoking numbers have dropped immeasurably over the last five years and vaping levels have dramatically increased. Since 2012, the number of UK vapers has risen from 700,000 to 2.9 million.
According to reports, more than half of UK’s vapers have given up smoking completely, indicating that e-cigs are largely successful in helping people quit traditional tobacco.
And they’re right to, when the majority of scientific analysis is considered. Public Health England, in perhaps the most renowned and inexorable e-cig study, said that e-cigarettes are 95% safer than regular cigarettes.
Despite this evidence, there are the concerns that e-liquid flavours can draw in youngsters, and of course, this requires further investigation.
It’s been reported that e-cig regulations could affect the effectiveness of vaping as a smoking cessation. A study published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research found that “the benefits of ECs (e-cigs) for smoking cessation may be limited to those who reside in an environment where there are few restrictions on the retail sale and marketing of ECs,” according to lead author at Cancer Council Victoria, Dr. Hua-Hie Yong.
“Developing an appropriate regulatory framework for ECs should be a priority so that the benefits of ECs for smoking cessation can be realised. Where the regulatory environment supports it, given the popularity of ECs, smokers who are unable or unwilling to quit using current approved methods should be offered the option of using ECs as short-term aids to quit smoking or replacing smoking with ECs for harm reduction purposes.”
The success of e-cigs is clearly demonstrated by the statistics, even if there are further investigations to be conducted. It seems crucial that the effectiveness of e-cigs is retained in the face of regulation, and it’s important that lawmakers respect this effectiveness.
