Regulating electronic cigarettes is a better option than banning them due to the potential benefits for smokers who are looking to quit their habit, according to a UK expert.

Heneage Mitchell, founder of survey site FactAsia.org, was giving his views to Yahoo Singapore about the upcoming ban on the use of e-cigarettes in Singapore after attending a summit in London.

The ban on e-cigarettes, which produce vapour for users to inhale, takes effect on 15 December. Also known as personal vaporisers or electronic nicotine delivery systems, e-cigarettes come in a large variety of flavours (also referred to as juices) and often contain nicotine. The act of using e-cigarettes is commonly referred to as “vaping”.

Mitchell said the Singapore government should instead regulate e-cigarettes to ensure that they are safe to use.

“The government has denied access to a product that is scientifically proven to be much safer than a legal product. To me, that doesn’t make sense.”

Mitchell, who was the former managing editor of Tobacco Asia, added, “They [the government] need to take a step back and ask what are our long term health goals, and it’s definitely to reduce death and disease associated with smoking.”

The e-cigarette summit on 12 November saw university researchers coming together to unveil their survey findings related to e-cigarettes.

Since Singapore banned the import, sale and distribution of e-cigarettes on 28 November 2014, many Singapore smokers have flocked across the Causeway to get their vaping fix. While the products are not banned in Malaysia – the local industry was worth US$639 million in 2014, according to a report by Channel NewsAsia – the authorities are cracking down on juices that contain nicotine.

Many smokers see vaping as effective in helping them to curb or quit the habit, mainly due to the absence of harmful tobacco and smoke in e-cigarettes. The UK’s Public Health Department released survey findings in August this year stating that e-cigarettes are around 95 per cent less harmful than tobacco.

In a joint statement released previously, Singapore’s Ministry of Health, Health Sciences Authority and Health Promotion Board said, “We are aware that e-cigarettes have been marketed as a safer alternative to standard cigarettes or as an effective smoking cessation device. We remain cautious as there is no conclusive scientific evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in helping smokers quit tobacco use.

”E-cigarettes could potentially be a gateway to developing a smoking habit, particularly among the young.”

Concern with unregulated e-cigarette juices in Malaysia

While it’s not difficult to manufacture e-cigarette juices, Mitchell said that smokers should be getting the support from their respective governments so that they can buy products that are safe to use.

During the interview, Mitchell also showed images of an e-cigarette store that he recently visited in Malaysia. The images showed several shelves that were fully stocked with bottles of unregulated juices.

“Unbelievable, it’s totally unregulated. There’s just dozens and dozens of these wholesalers, and all of them had two, three, four people buying chunks of juice… they had no idea what’s in them,” he said.

The ingredients of juices are typically water, propylene glycol, vegetable glycol, and pharmaceutical-grade nicotine, and food grade flavor, and they are easy to make, Mitchell pointed out.

How other countries regulate e-cigarettes

Authorities from around the world have different ways of regulating e-cigarettes.

South Korea taxes e-cigarettes, which are categorised as tobacco products. A milliliter of liquid nicotine is taxed at the same rate as a box of tobacco.

Australia categorises nicotine as poison if not used for therapeutic purposes. E-cigarettes without nicotine are categorised as consumer products.

DRIVING while smoking an e-cigarette in the presence of a child is now illegal throughout NSW.

THE new laws come into effect on Tuesday and include bans on smoking while in a car with a child under 16 and displaying and advertising e-cigarettes and accessories in retail stores.

The NSW government banned the sale of these products to minors in early September.

1. Smoking damages your respiratory system
Smoking damages your respiratory system, making it harder for you to breathe. Over time, it can cause lung cancer, which is painful as it progresses, and will most likely kill you. Lung cancer fills your chest with liquid and drowns you from the inside. Mouth and throat cancers cause lesions to grow inside your mouth. Emphysema ruins the shape of your lungs, causing them to weaken. Although smokers might feel only mild negative health effects from their smoking now, the consequences will be much worse, and probably deadly, in the long term.

2. Smoking makes you look older
Every time you smoke a cigarette, you accelerate your body’s ageing process. Over the long-term, you will develop what is known as “smoker’s face”. Smoke causes blood vessels to narrow, impairing the skin’s blood flow. It also destroys the amount of elastin and collagen in your skin, two proteins which give skin its elasticity and strength. Lastly, your teeth become yellow because of the tar in cigarettes.

3. Smoking is expensive
Cigarette smoking is a very expensive. Assuming that you smoke one pack a day, costing $20 per pack, that adds up to $140 per week, $560 a month and $6720 a year! Why would you spend your hard-earned money on something that kills you?

4. There’s no excuse to keep smoking
Because of modern technology, there’s no reason why a smoker can’t quit. There are many nicotine replacement therapies available on the market today. Nicotine patches and gums are widely available over the counter. For those who enjoy the feeling of smoking, electronic cigarettes are also available. These can serve as an effective way to quit.

Are you trying to quit smoking cigarettes, but can’t? Are you looking to save some money or live a healthier lifestyle? Join the many millions of people around the world turning to the future of smoking: the e-cigarette!

A healthier alternative
It is well-known that smoking is hazardous to your health. Electronic cigarettes have proven to be a much healthier alternate to regular cigarettes. With the e-cigarette, you will leave behind all of the poisonous chemicals that are found in tobacco cigarettes. There are thousands of toxic chemicals on tobacco cigarettes, including arsenic which is used in rat poison. Do you really want to be putting this into your body? Electronic cigarettes, on the other hand, contain a liquid composed of vegetable glycerin (vegetable oil), propylene glycol (a common food preservative) and food flavour. You can buy the liquid with or without nicotine, so that you can deal with your nicotine cravings which are one of the biggest things that you need to overcome when quitting smoking. Most people gradually reduce their intake of nicotine over a period of a few months.

Good for your wallet
Switching to the e-cigarette will noticeably improve your financial situation. Cigarettes are very expensive, and it is not uncommon for heavy smokers to spend $100 or more per week on these deadly products. Once you have purchased an electronic cigarette starter kit, all you need to buy is the liquid to re-fill your unit. In the first year, you can save thousands of dollars.

The highest success rate
Scientific research has demonstrated that the e-cigarette is the quit smoking device that has the greatest rate of success. It is far better than nicotine patches, chewing gums, hypnotherapy, quit-smoking drugs, nicotine inhalers, acupuncture and the many other quit smoking products available. Electronic cigarettes are so effective because they mimic the act of smoking: you can actually quit smoking while still smoking!

If you’re ready to take the plunge and start improving your health, make the switch today!

It is well-known that smoking is an unhealthy habit, yet many people find it very difficult to give up this unhealthy habit. Technology, however, has provided an ideal solution to the problem of quitting smoking: the electronic cigarette. The e-cigarette has been around for less than a decade, but it has helped many people quit smoking and become healthier in the process. A number of features unique to the electronic cigarette have played a key role in its popularity and they will be examined here.

E-cigarettes have advanced technologically since the first model appeared in 2003, partly because of greater demand for the device. They have become more user friendly in the process. Some models look exactly like real cigarettes, although they do have a limited battery life which is one major drawback. Other models do not look like a real cigarette, but have the advantage of a stronger battery. Alongside advances in batteries in the mobile phone and laptop industries have been advances in the e-cigarette industry as well. Batteries have remained more or less the same size, but their life has been extended greatly over the last few years. The heating elements have witnessed the greatest technological advance since this is the part of the electronic cigarette that does the most work, and suffers a relatively short lifespan because of this.

Another important feature of the e-cigarette is its flavour. A number of flavours are available, and this makes the vaping experience more interesting as it allows for variety. There are many flavours available, ranging from fruits to popular drinks, but the most popular remain the various tobacco flavours. Initially, these flavours weren’t particularly similar to the original product, but over time chemists have perfected the flavour so that there is very little different between the taste of real tobacco and the taste of the liquid tobacco flavour that is used in the electronic cigarette. The same can be said for the other popular flavours like menthol, vanilla and coffee.

With all these unique features, electronic cigarettes have gained a solid worldwide reputation and following. More importantly, they have aided millions of smokers to give up the unhealthy habit and lead healthier lives.