No. These products should not be regulated as if they were tobacco products, with all the restrictions which exist for conventional smoking. Nor should they be regulated as medicinal products. Bringing a medicinal product to market takes years and millions of dollars. About 80 per cent of the vaping market is in the hands of small, independent manufacturers who could not take on that financial burden.
Safer nicotine products should be regulated proportionately as consumer products. Regulations should be controlled by the industry standards already in place in a country. If no such standards exist, they should be developed in line with existing international safety standards, to ensure products can be marketed safely. Manufacturers should be allowed to target advertising and promotion to current adult smokers and highlight the health benefits of these products compared to smoking.
In the USA, the Food and Drug Administration now allows the manufacturers of snus and a heated tobacco product to state that their products are less harmful than smoking.