MEPs want to classify the e-cigarette as a medicine. According to French doctors, such a measure would be counterproductive for smoking cessation. Explanations.
French pharmacists and e-cigarette shops are certainly on the alert at the moment. Because the future of electronic cigarettes in Europe is being played out today! It is indeed this Tuesday that the European Parliament must vote a tobacco directive which could assimilate the e-cigarette to a drug. But the MEPs in favor of this project have in front of them, on the forecourt of the Parliament of Strasbourg, hundreds of vapers, with a petition of 39,000 signatures, which aims to abort this directive. The latter are also supported by many French doctors. A few hours before this crucial decision for 1.5 million vapers in France and nearly 7 times more in Europe, why actor reminds you of the positions of the different actors and the challenges of this debate.
The English want to make the e-cigarette into medicine
In this story, it all starts with the position of our English neighbors. The British intend to obtain from Brussels in 2014 that all non-tobacco products containing nicotine be considered as medical devices subject to marketing authorization. The demand is primarily aimed at e-cigarettes.
To justify this choice, English policies are based on a report by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (Mhra), the body responsible for regulating all drugs and medical devices in the United Kingdom. The British equivalent of the French Medicines Safety Agency (Ansm) considers that these cigarettes contain nicotine and can therefore be considered as smoking cessation products. In addition, users are entitled, according to the Agency, to request guarantees of safety and efficacy equivalent to those offered by drugs.
Finally, the officials of Mhra considered in the views of their medical and scientific research that electronic cigarettes had no more proven their effectiveness against the scourge of smoking than other tobacco substitutes. However, just like the patches and gums, experts recommend the use of this brand new product, in particular to limit consumption.
Sure to win the case, the country’s health authorities have already encouraged all e-cigarette manufacturers to undertake preliminary work to obtain marketing authorization. It would admittedly be compulsory if the product were classified as a medicinal product.
In France, this would lead to the closure of all e-cigarette stores
However, if this European directive, which is being debated this morning, is adopted, the situation would not be at all the same in the twenty-seven countries of the European Union. The word “drug” does not mean the same thing everywhere. Like on the other side of the Channel for example.
“The definition of the word drug is not at all the same for our English neighbors”, recently confided to why actor Prof. Bertrand Dautzenberg, author of the e-cigarette report submitted to the Minister of Health in May. As this pulmonologist expert explained to us, it is true that medicines are freely available in the United Kingdom. This is particularly the case in English drugstores, large commercial establishments where you can find everything, including medicines.
According to this specialist, making the electronic cigarette a drug is not very wise. According to the president of the French Office for the Prevention of Smoking, the e-cigarette as a consumer product is aimed at everyone, including young people. Through this free trade, the product can entice people who are not motivated to quit. “If we take smokers who agree to quit smoking, we select 1/5 of smokers. While the e-cigarette has the advantage of targeting 100% of smokers. The latter, who sometimes use this product just to test it, very often find themselves caught in the process of stopping smoking, ”he concluded.
The electronic cigarette is less dangerous than the classic cigarette
Asked at the end of August by why actor, Dr Gérard Mathern, secretary general of the Société Française de Tabacologie indicated that, “if we compare the two products, vaping remains infinitely better than smoking conventional cigarettes. First of all, the latter contains, for example, tar, an extremely toxic and sticky substance which carries a lot of toxic elements. Ultimately, it causes cancer of the throat and lungs, and cancer of the tongue in tobacco roll-your-own tobacco smokers. ” Then, Gérard Mathern also recalled that, “the conventional cigarette creates carbon monoxide, a gas produced by the combustion of tobacco. It has asphyxiant and polluting properties and reduces the oxygenation of organic tissues. It is particularly responsible for cardiovascular disease in smokers. “
The French medical community united on the subject
Finally, French tobacco specialists are not the only French doctors to defend an e-cigarette trade open to all. In a call coordinated by Dr Philippe Presles, launched Monday in the columns of the Parisian, ten French doctors, all specialties combined (cardiologists, angiologists, oncologists, urologists, neurologists, specialists in fetal pathology, ENT …), reject the idea of classifying this product as a drug. They thus join the opinion of the French Office for the fight against smoking. And the latter recalled that the product “clearly helps many smokers to turn the page on tobacco. “According to the 1st comparative trial conducted in New Zealand and unveiled in early September, the e-cigarette would be a smoking cessation tool at least as effective as nicotine patches!
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