Past smoking regulations

Tobacco companies have been forced by law in many countries to remove logos and colour from packaging, include obligatory health warnings and graphic photographs of smoking-related-illnesses on packets and sponsorship and advertising has been banned from almost all public events (in the West). This is a bid by governments to encourage smokers to kick the habit, and to discourage those who don’t smoke already from starting.

Newly proposed regulations, coupled with price-per-packet and tax rises way above inflation over the last 20 years, are opening the door to a new form of smoking: electronic smoking. At present e-cigarettes offer a cheaper and (potentially) healthier alternative to smoking tobacco and include an array of products such as e-cigarettes, vaporisers, atomisers, cigars, pipes and shishas which are slowly but surely securing their position in the commercial marketplace.

What hurdles in the form of regulations will the e-cigarette manufacturers face in their battle against the tobacco giants? Well with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulating bodies yet to act it is still unclear and is leaving many people guessing.

“The current lack of regulatory oversight means that there is significant variability in device effectiveness, nicotine delivery and cartridge nicotine content both between and sometimes within product brands”(source)