It seems that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of wanting to regulate or classify E Cigarettes in some way or another, if not try to ban them completely. The controversy seems to be whether they are safer than regular cigarette smoking or if they are medicinal products as in a nicotine replacement therapy or if they are simply a pleasure product such as coffee and regular cigarettes.
In the London they are trying to classify E Cigarettes as medicinal to be regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency UK. They want to make vaping a medically regulated practice. Saying that it is nicotine replacement therapy because there could be advertising that states e-cigarettes make smokers quit smoking cigarettes. It would fall under the same regulations as a nicotine patch, even though there is no regulation that states the measure of nicotine to be classified as nicotine replacement, even if there is no nicotine at all administered to the user. The sellers of e cigarettes are adamantly against this classification because the cost to become a medicinal product is prohibitive and would not be possible for the majority of sellers. This would cause a loss in over 500 jobs and put a strain on social services, it also would cause vape users that cannot afford e-liquid to go back to smoking or smokers to believe that smoking and vaping are no different. The resulting healthcare issues of smoking cigarettes is more dangerous and a detriment to customers who have switched to vaping.
Meanwhile in the USA the FDA is allowing a large budget for testing and diagnostics in order to decide what regulations they can enforce on the e-cigarette industry in the very near future. Currently they are testing to see what the effects of vapour use has on lab rats, then it will be tested at some point on humans. They are also conducting testing to see if the flavours of e liquid attracts younger teens to take up vaping. At this point the vaping, e-cigarette industry is pretty much unregulated and the sellers are quite content with that fact. The FDA believes that vaping is not any safer than smoking cigarettes. It will be awhile before any testing results are conclusive and the FDA can use them for regulation. But it is definitely on the horizon.
Some local areas are even taking it upon themselves to create local bans on vaping that match cigarette smoking. Meaning that vapour users would have to vape outdoors in public just like smokers are made to in most every state. Sellers are fighting these bans but it is not looking to be a winning battle.