Friday 13 March 2009

"Call to ban sale of electronic cigarettes"

From The Metro:

Trading Standards chiefs are calling for a ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes to children because of fears they could ingest potentially lethal doses of nicotine.

The battery-powered "e-cigarettes" look like real cigarettes but users inhale a mist of nicotine instead of smoke. However, some of the e-cigarettes contain up to 18mg of liquid nicotine in refill cartridges which could prove fatal to children if swallowed, The Sun reported...

Anti-smoking group Ash [ahem, "fakecharity Ash", actually] said while it welcomed "safe and satisfying" alternatives to smoking, it had seen no proof that e-cigarettes are safe.

A spokesman told BBC Radio 5Live: "We're not entirely sure these products are safe and that is the problem. We haven't had the tests through yet that show they are safe and that is why the regulators are worried."

11 comments:

Letters From A Tory said...

Since when did Labour care about whether something actually works before implementing it? News to me.

JuliaM said...

"...it had seen no proof that e-cigarettes are safe.."

Has it seen any proof they aren't..?

Mark Wadsworth said...

JM, keep up at the back!

It is not relevant how likely the harm is, all that matters is that it is theoretically possible to kill yourself by swallowing them by mistake, which would a good reason to ban felt tip pens, for example.

Anonymous said...

What proof is there that fakecharity Ash is safe?

DaveA said...

ASH are full of shit as we have come to expect. E-cigs have been tested and are entirely safe. ASH: "never let the facts get in the way of a good sound byte)."

"http://www.tobacco.org/news/273582.html

Findings. Ruyan® e-cigarette is designed to be a safe alternative to smoking. The various test results confirm this is the case. It is very safe relative to cigarettes, and also safe in
absolute terms on all measurements we have applied. Using micro-electronics it vaporizes, separately for each puff, very small quantities of nicotine dissolved in propylene glycol, two small well-known molecules with excellent safety profiles, – into a fine aerosol. Each puff contains one third to one half the nicotine in a tobacco cigarette’s puff. The cartridge liquid is tobacco-free and no combustion occurs.

Competency. The author has authored or co-authored over 30 research papers and reports in national and international scientific medical journals since 1995, on smoking, and latterly on testing of cigarettes and cigarette substitutes



http://www.healthnz.co.nz/RuyanCartridgeReport30-Oct-08.pdf

Dr. Murray Laugesen

Lyttelton, Christchurch, 8082

Dick Puddlecote said...

They don't like the fact that they are made in China. ASH will change tack once their pharmaceutical paymasters produce their own model.

You may remember that a trading standards branch in Scotland (naturally) have already banned the cartridges. I wrote about it in The Wrong Suppliers

Elby the Beserk said...

Oh for heavens sake.

Look - here's the deal.

We are all guilty of anything until proven otherwise.

All things are dangerous, even if proven otherwise.

Gordon Brown saves the world.

Lester Taylor said...

How do we tax it?

Jock Coats said...

A spokesman told BBC Radio 5Live: "We're not entirely sure these products are safe and that is the problem. We haven't had the tests through yet that show they are safe and that is why the regulators are worried."

See, they even speak for the regulator?

TheFatBigot said...

I did say ...

http://thefatbigot.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-ban-is-imminent.html

(Sorry don't know how to make it clickable.)

Anonymous said...

I watched a video that gave different global perspectives about e-cigs and the controversy plaguing them. The most interesting thing about these e-cig manufacturing companies are that the cigarettes come in different flavors such as cherry, mint and chocolate. The marketing behind this product is targeted for long time smokers looking to quit. If people are long time chain smokers then they are not going to care if the cigarette has a flavor. It sounds like a ploy or advertising tactic to get people to start trying e-cigs. But that is just my opinion, form your own:

http://www.newsy.com/videos/a_healthy_cigarette/