EU Regulations on E-cigarettes may be "counter productive"

Check out this latest article in the Economist on how the new regulations on e-cigarettes, due to be voted on October 8th in the European Parliment.

The Economist states:

On October 8th it is due to vote on a new tobacco-control directive. Its intent is to cut smoking and keep children from taking it up (see article). But one of its main provisions would have the opposite effect. It would treat e-cigarettes like medicines, which includes requiring their makers to seek approval from the agencies that regulate pharmaceuticals when they bring a new product to market. This would greatly reduce the range of products available and increase their price. Even the European Commission, which first proposed the approach, admits that this is likely to slow the uptake of e-cigarettes. A vote for more curbs in Europe will also surely send a signal to America’s Food and Drug Administration, which is contemplating its own regulations.