Over the best part of the last decade, e-cigarettes have found themselves at the center of a fierce debate with two very differently motivated standpoints. It’s an argument that has embroiled everyone from the consumer, the government, health officials and everybody in between, but where exactly is the industry at right now?
Landmark results from Public Health England that suggested that e-cigarettes were 95 percent less harmful than ordinary tobacco alternatives, but the World Health Organization (WHO) remain one of the key players in the anti-vape camp. At their most recent tobacco control meeting they have been pushing hard for a total ban of e-cigarettes in public places over fears regarding second-hand emissions from devices. Such a ban would see vape devices treated in the same way as ordinary cigarettes, prohibiting them completely from public transport, schools and hospitals. At the moment, there is no blanket legislation regarding electronic cigarette users in these types of place; it’s down to individual policy.
The WHO’s strong stance has been criticized by many who believe that vaping could help prevent some of the millions of preventable tobacco-related deaths that occur each year, including PHE’S National Director of Health and Wellbeing, Professor Kevin Fenton, “The real concern is that smokers increasingly believe the inaccurate reports that vaping is as dangerous as smoking and are more likely to continue to smoke.”
Rules put in place by the Tobacco Products Directive has meant that all existing and new e-cigarette products must go through stringent and expensive compliancy tests. Not all brands will have the time and money it will take to get their products through, which will mean the choice within the market slims down, and any surviving brands may have to push prices up to compensate for the expense it takes to bring them to sale point.
Whilst tighter TPD regulation will undoubtedly impact strongly on suppliers, the end customer will also start to notice a difference in both their hardware and e-liquids. One of the other implements that will directly affect the consumer is a size limit on tanks, which must be no more than 2ml in volume. E-liquids can only have nicotine strengths of up to 20mg/ml.
