“The evidence currently available to us is clear: e-cigarettes should be allowed to compete against conventional cigarettes on the market. Marlet. “Peter Hajek, professor at Queen Mary University in London, is categorical. In a study he led with the help of an international team of tobacco researchers, published by the journal Addiction, he explains: “Despite the gaps in long-term effects, which require more research, the data on e-cigarettes does not justify stricter, or even as strict, regulation than that of conventional cigarettes.”
Regulatory decisions are beneficial to public health when they are proportional, evidence-based, and when they incorporate a rational assessment of likely risks and benefits, the researchers say.
An international debate
“The professionals may advise smokers who do not want to go without nicotine to try electronic cigarettes. Those who have failed to quit with current treatments may also benefit, “continues Peter Hajek.
This study, like others, attempts to shed light on doubts about potential dangers, such as the risk of decreased motivation to quit or of a gateway to smoking for young people, in a period when electronic cigarettes is enjoying considerable success. Regulators around the world are debating how to regulate this product, while the long-term effects are not known.