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Regulating Electronic Cigarettes: Not Tobacco and Not (Yet) Therapy

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Abstract

Electronic cigarettes are nicotine delivery devices that have rapidly penetrated into the market since their invention in 2003. Their remarkably rapid spread has raised questions concerning their safety and efficacy as smoking cessation aids. However, despite this uncertainty, the number of users is increasing, especially among smokers and ex-smokers who are trying to keep away from tobacco cigarettes. Several chemical studies have been conducted and a safer profile compared with tobacco cigarettes has been recognized. Clinical and population studies have given a first insight into the efficacy of e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids, supporting their potential. Nonetheless, these preliminary findings cannot lead to reliable conclusions about their long-term safety and efficacy and further research is warranted. The burden of tobacco-related diseases is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and further measures are needed in order to reduce tobacco harm. At the moment, e-cigarettes are categorized as consumer products in the UK because the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA’s) recommendation to regulate e-cigarettes as medicines did not get the adequate response; however, very soon e-cigarettes will be regulated under the EU’s Tobacco Product Directive. E-cigarettes are widely used and the preliminary findings on safety and efficacy, in combination with the need for new tobacco harm reduction strategies, suggest that the investigation of e-cigarettes’ potential as a smoking cessation aid is imperative.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Anthony W. Fox for his guidance and support throughout the writing of this manuscript.

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  1. Pharmaceutical Medicine Group, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, King’s College London, Room 3.54 FWB, 150 Stamford Street, London, SW1 9NH, UK

    Eva Anthopoulou

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Correspondence to Eva Anthopoulou.

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No funding was received for the publication of this article.

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Ms. Anthopoulou has no conflicts of interest to disclose. This article derives partly from a Dissertation in partial fulfilment of the degree of MSc Clinical Pharmacology at King’s College London.

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Anthopoulou, E. Regulating Electronic Cigarettes: Not Tobacco and Not (Yet) Therapy. Pharm Med 30, 203–211 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40290-016-0151-9

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