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E-cigarettes to be classified as medicines

Electronic cigarettes in the UK will be classified as medicines, under new regulations slated to be introduced in 2016. It is not yet clear how the reclassification will affect retailers but it could potentially lead to e-cigs to be purchasable only from licensed pharmacies, as is the case in New Zealand.

BREAKING NEWS: Electronic cigarettes in the UK will be classified as medicines, under new regulations slated to be introduced in 2016.

e-cigsThe Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says it will not ban them entirely but will work to a position where they are classed as medicines in the future.

Sales of e-cigs have boomed in recent years especially since the introduction of smoking bans in public places which doesn’t affect them. The e-cigs representative body the Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association, said that they make no medicinal claims for their product. They are sold merely as an alternative to ordinary cigarettes, they say.

Attempts to classify e-cigarettes as a medicinal product have been made in the past in countries such as Holland and Germany but had the decions were overturned in court.

What do you think?  Should e-cigs be regulated? And to what extent?  Leave your thoughts in the comments below

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