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By Darshana Abayasingha
The Royal College of Physicians in London recently played host to the E-Cigarette Summit 2024, in the run up to the UK Government’s consideration of the Tobacco and Vapes bill.
The forum, which brought together perspectives from across the world, had broad consensus that tobacco-free oral nicotine products were significantly safer alternatives to cigarette smoking, whilst vaping too offers great promise but needed tighter regulation. Countries like Sweden have demonstrated massive strides in harm reduction through oral nicotine products, with some scientists claiming it’s much as 99% safer than cigarettes, due to the complete absence of a combustion process.
The E-Cigarette Summit sought to promote evidence-based dialogue amongst all stakeholders, excluding tobacco companies, on tobacco harm reduction, vaping policies, regulations and enforcement, effects of flavour descriptors on adults and youth, and smoke-free ambitions. The forum chaired by Prof. Ann McNeill from King’s College London, brought together regulatory advisors, scientific and research community, smoking cessation practitioners, public health and medical professionals.
It was revealed that close to 70% of people who tried e-cigarettes as a stop-aid tend to successfully stop smoking. The UK allows physicians to prescribe e-cigarettes to persons looking to quit smoking, and it was identified as an effective control.
However, youth vaping was identified as a growing problem with the need for stricter regulation and access controls. It was revealed many counterfeit and non-compliant manufacturers were taking advantage of loopholes in existing regulations to target youngsters. Such sub-standard and illegal products were found to include Vitamin E acetate found in cannabis vapes, which are often smuggled into markets.
The draft tobacco and vapes bill in the UK is exploring methods to restrict and remove such products on the basis of non-compliance at supply, whilst facial ID and other digital mechanisms are also being considered to control youth access.
