'Government missing opportunity with e-cigarettes'

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee has just published its Report, E-cigarettes.

The Report reviews the current evidence base on the harmfulness of e-cigarettes compared to conventional cigarettes and looks at the current policies on e-cigarettes, including in NHS mental health units and in prisons. The Committee concludes that e-cigarettes should not be treated in the same way as conventional cigarettes.

The Report indicates that there is clear evidence that e-cigarettes are substantially less harmful than conventional cigarettes. Public Health England estimate e-cigarettes as 95% less harmful, although the evidence available does not currently allow a precise figure to be determined.

The Committee is calling on the Government to consider risk-based regulation to allow more freedom to advertise e-cigarettes as the relatively less harmful option, and provide financial incentives, in the form of lower levels of taxation, for smokers to swap from cigarettes to less harmful alternatives such as e-cigarettes.  Further, it is calling for a reconsideration of:

• their use in public places;
• limits on refill strengths and tank sizes;
• the approval systems for stop smoking therapies such as e-cigarettes.

The principal conclusions of the Report can be found here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmsctech/505/50508.htm

A summary of the Report can be found here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmsctech/505/50503.htm