UK: MSPs told that E-Cigarettes ''Could Help Save Millions''

Source from:  The Scotsma 11/20/2014

Health campaigners and manufacturers of the devices agreed there needs to be a law to make it illegal to sell the liquid nicotine inhalers to under 16s.

Currently there is only a voluntary code among traders not to sell to children, while the Government consults on legislation.

The manufacturers said the devices are an aid to people quitting smoking, while a GP said there was not yet enough known about how safe or harmful the products are to recommend then for that purpose.

The Scottish Parliament Health Committee took evidence on e-cigarettes and heard agreement on restricting their sale to adults, but also claims they could help many people quit smoking.

John Britton, director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, said: "Electronic cigarettes offer a huge potential benefit to public health by helping smokers to shift to an alternative source of nicotine.

"If all smokers in Britain were to do that we would be talking of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of premature deaths avoided."

However, Dr Andrew Thomson of BMA Scotland said: "I still have a lack of confidence to advise using e-cigarettes. I'm not going to tell people not to use it, but it is a step further to come out and recommend it to patients because there is a lack of evidence in my mind that they are not causing any harm." Enditem