Despite being around for a number of years, the market for electronic cigarettes seems to have boomed, especially in the past few months. What used to be a niche product, the mainstream transition seems to have happened over night and their obscurity seems to have been obliterated, backed up by the global e cig market being worth £1.3bn.
Smoking is one of the largest causes of preventable illnesses and death. With tobacco being the most harmful product of a cigarette, with its tar by product coming a very close second the electronic alternative automatically offers a less harmful substitute. Nicotine is the addictive part of cigarettes and is still present in e cigs. While this isn’t the harmful substance, it is the reason why many people can’t quit smoking.
E cigarettes have been used for a number of reasons over the years and while a lot of people vape simply for enjoyment and the relaxing aspect, others have decided to make the change to e cigs in an effort to quit smoking altogether and for some, it has been very effective. With vapers being allowed to choose the levels of nicotine, they can start to wean themselves off the substance easily, eventually managing to cope without the nicotine.
In a bid to make the nation healthier and less at risk from avoidable death, the Government has decided to bring in new legislation that will class electronic cigarettes as a nicotine replacement therapy, whist also making them a medicinal product. It is hoped that the change in law will make the products effective and safer when it comes to public health, reducing the damage smoking can cause.
This has been met with a lot of opposition, simply because electronic cigarettes were never marketed as a nicotine replacement therapy, but simply as an alternative and now the market may suffer and e cig users will no longer be able to vape at their leisure. NCP’s seem to be inadequate when it comes to helping people to quit smoking and regulating the one product that could in fact eliminate tobacco smoking seems to be misguided.
When electronic cigarettes are turned into a nicotine replacement therapy, the amount of nicotine allowed in the product will be monitored, possibly not offering users a throat hit they feel is satisfactory, making them turn back to the original tobacco cigarette. This means the new legislation could in fact be a massive U-turn when it comes to targeting the tobacco problem, making vapers tempted to turn back to the traditional cigarette.
Nicotine is an extremely addictive substance and it can be hard for those who don’t smoke to comprehend just how difficult it is to quit. Presently, e cigarettes offer a way to help people quit that is a lot more effective than other nicotine replacement therapies. However, this may change when the products start to be monitored and regulated.
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This is a very innovative step in medical field. Cigarettes which can be used as medicine is an invention that does not exist yet. However, more research is needed.
I don’t understand why many governments are so bent on banning or at least very strictly regulating the sales and distribution of e-cigarettes. Keeping minors from buying e-cigarettes is one thing, but strangling the e-cigarette industry is an entirely different thing. Monitoring the amount of nicotine allowed in e-cigarettes is another strange move. What about heavy smokers who are still in the first stages of switching to e-cigarettes? They may be tempted to forget e-cigarettes and just return to their very unhealthy tobacco cigarettes. If that’s the case, then their road to recovery may end in disappointment and they will make more poeple become passive smokers.