The E cigarette debate is hotting up to boiling point...

Yesterday, a leaflet was thrust into my hand as I walked through the sliding doors of SuperU.

E cigarette promotion..

If I use an e cigarette I can save €2,000 a year. Not quite sure how this saving applies to me as I don’t smoke… but I was intrigued by the leaflet. It is a long time since I have seen cigarette ‘e’ or otherwise advertised..

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat a nicotine-based liquid and turn it into vapour and have become increasingly popular in recent years, partly because smokers see them as a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes

In France alone, the market for e-cigarettes is expected to more than double this year to around €100 million from €40 million last year, according to a recent study from the French office for the prevention of smoking.

Eager to further tap this growing market, France’s 27,000 tobacconists—a fixture of French towns with their red Tabac signs—have called on the government to give them the exclusive right to sell e-cigarettes as currently the sale of e cigarettes is not regulated and anyone can sell these devises and the associated liquids to anyone.

Until yesterday I has no idea that you could ‘vapour’ strawberry and mint as well as tobacco. To me this is a little dangerous, at the moment there is nothing to stop a 12year old child from buying an e cigarette and ‘vaporising’ a strawberry liquid… and then it is a very small step to buying the nicotine liquid next time… I suppose it is a bit like alcopops and alcohol.

A French court in Toulouse has recently ruled that tobacconists should have the exclusive right to sell electronic cigarettes—the smoke-free alternative to tobacco products—dealing a potential blow to the burgeoning e-cigarette industry.

The surprise ruling could influence efforts to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes across Europe, which is grappling with the question of whether they should be treated as tobacco products..

The ruling, if it stands, could be a setback for France’s rapidly expanding e-cigarette outlets. If legislation were to follow the court reasoning, it would force e-cigarette stores to close.

Marisol Touraine, France’s health minister, has said she wants to ban e-cigarettes from public spaces and ban advertising on them.

The e cigarette battle is far from over… and for now anyone can buy an e cigarette from their local supermarket !!