MEPs agreed with consumers who did not want the e-cigarette to be sold in pharmacies.
283 votes of deputies for, 386 votes against, it’s official, the electronic cigarette will not be a medicine. Debated on Tuesday in the European Parliament, the European directive which aimed to reserve this sale to pharmacists was rejected by MEPs. Stores selling e-cigarettes can therefore take a break. Back on a vote where the arguments for a free trade in this product, defended by most French doctors, prevailed.
The electronic cigarette is less dangerous than the classic cigarette
In this story, it all starts with the position of our English neighbors. The British intended to obtain from Brussels in 2014 that all non-tobacco products containing nicotine be considered as medical devices subject to marketing authorization. The demand was primarily aimed at the e-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!
Stores selling e-cigarettes will not close
If this European directive, which was debated this morning, had been adopted, the situation would not have been 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. Without a doubt, the vapers’ lobby weighed heavily in the balance.
The e-cigarette paves the way for smoking cessation
According to this specialist, making the electronic cigarette a drug was 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.
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