Mark
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http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/ME...-a-game-chager-for-smokers-20130712131815.htm
MEP says e-cigarettes are a 'game-changer' for smokers
Written byMARK MCKAY
THE Euro MP for Burton has vowed to continue to campaign for electronic cigarettes following a European ruling to restrict their use.
MEPs in the environment committee of the European Parliament have backed calls to treat e-cigarettes as medicines which will reduce their availability compared to tobacco.
E-cigarettes vaporise nicotine for users to inhale to get their ‘hit’ without the carcinogens and passive smoking risks associated with standard cigarettes.
The law surrounding e-cigarettes will now be the subject of a vote by the full European Parliament in autumn.
But Phil Bennion, Liberal Democrat MEP for the West Midlands, said he has found little evidence to suggest that e-cigarettes are harmful.
He said: “In an ideal world no-one would be addicted to nicotine, even in this less harmful way of absorbing it but we don’t live in an ideal world and it seems very clear that it is better than to smoke.
“In fact all the evidence I have seen suggests e-cigarettes could be a game-changer in the decades-long public health battle to stamp out tobacco smoking.
“They can help people break their addiction more effectively than treatments like patches.
“More and more experts who have looked into it believe this could be a breakthrough that could save millions of lives.
“So it is senseless to make it more difficult and expensive to buy and use an e-cigarette than a tobacco cigarette.”
We should not throw away the prospect of this huge public health gain.”
MEP says e-cigarettes are a 'game-changer' for smokers
Written byMARK MCKAY
THE Euro MP for Burton has vowed to continue to campaign for electronic cigarettes following a European ruling to restrict their use.
MEPs in the environment committee of the European Parliament have backed calls to treat e-cigarettes as medicines which will reduce their availability compared to tobacco.
E-cigarettes vaporise nicotine for users to inhale to get their ‘hit’ without the carcinogens and passive smoking risks associated with standard cigarettes.
The law surrounding e-cigarettes will now be the subject of a vote by the full European Parliament in autumn.
But Phil Bennion, Liberal Democrat MEP for the West Midlands, said he has found little evidence to suggest that e-cigarettes are harmful.
He said: “In an ideal world no-one would be addicted to nicotine, even in this less harmful way of absorbing it but we don’t live in an ideal world and it seems very clear that it is better than to smoke.
“In fact all the evidence I have seen suggests e-cigarettes could be a game-changer in the decades-long public health battle to stamp out tobacco smoking.
“They can help people break their addiction more effectively than treatments like patches.
“More and more experts who have looked into it believe this could be a breakthrough that could save millions of lives.
“So it is senseless to make it more difficult and expensive to buy and use an e-cigarette than a tobacco cigarette.”
We should not throw away the prospect of this huge public health gain.”
