Electronic cigarettes are to be licensed as a medicine in the U.K. from 2016. Britain currently has few restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes, although some countries have moved to ban them. E-cigarettes are to be regulated as medicines when new European tobacco laws come into force. Sales of tobacco-free cigarettes have soared worldwide since bans on public smoking were introduced, but activists say the popularity of e-cigarettes could undermine years of anti-smoking campaigning. An estimated 1.3 million smokers and ex-smokers in the U.K. use e-cigarettes, which are designed to replicate smoking behaviour without the use of tobacco. The gadgets turn nicotine and other chemicals into a vapour that is inhaled.
(c) 2007 World Entertainment News Network