Beyond the risk that you’ll look like a little bit of a pillock for puffing on one in a nightclub (for some reason they’re almost on a par with wearing sunglasses indoors, aren’t they?), the vast majority of us have believed that e-cigarettes are pretty much risk-free fun.
No wonder, then, that new research shows the e-cigarettes market has exploded with 30 million people across Europe alone now using them – the vast majority of whom are normal fag smokers who are trying to quit. The research published in the journal *Tobacco Control *showed how much the industry is booming, with around 10 new brands and more than 240 new flavours coming to market every month. Slightly more worryingly, however, the study showed that e-cigarette users were more likely to be current smokers of up to 20 cigarettes a day, aged 15-24, and will have made at least one attempt to kick their habit in the past year.
Despite all of this, the debate still rages on about the devices themselves. Are they, as many people believe, going to be the savior of millions of people who have used them to quit smoking? Or are they just a new way of hooking young people onto nicotinefrom a very early age, like the 100 specialists who have just asked the World Health Organisation for tighter controls on the sale of e-cigarettes think?
For their part, it’s a claim that the e-cigarette producers vehemently deny. Nigel Hardy, Nicoventures Head of UK & Ireland, told The Debrief: ‘All our products are intended for adult smokers only and the safest option is always to stop smoking altogether. For those adult smokers looking for an alternative, we believe that our e-cigarettes are significantly less risky than combustible cigarettes.’
However even the producers don’t want to say that the e-cigarettes are completely risk free:
‘We are not claiming they are “safe” in an absolute sense, and all our products carry a health warning. We support regulation that would require e-cigarettes to comply with appropriate product and safety standards. Since e-cigarettes contain nicotine and nicotine is addictive, we believe strongly that e-cigarettes should be marketed responsibly and in a way that does not encourage children to use e-cigarettes. This is why we support age restriction on sales of e-cigarettes in the same way that we support appropriate marketing restrictions on advertising to people under 18. We only ever direct our marketing efforts at adult smokers [18+] and ensure that none of our marketing materials have a particular appeal to children.’
So, from this producer’s point of view at least, there doesn’t seem to be much weight behind the assertion that the e-cigarettes are targeting the tween market, but what about the rest of us? Even the producers accept that they can’t say with absolutely certainly that they’re safe – so what are we doing to ourselves when we use them?
Essentially, we’re not really sure, but a spokesperson for the Department of Health told The Debrief that, at the very least, we ought to be cautions about sucking away on them. ‘E-cigarettes still contain nicotine, which is addictive, and we know little about the safety of their long term use, which is why we are banning their sale to under 18’s and making it illegal for adults to buy them on their behalf.’
Essentially, at the moment we can’t be 100 per cent certain of the long-term health implications of the e-cigarette. But with market growing exponentially it still looks like plenty of us are willing to take the risk…
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophiecullinane
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.