THANDI XABA
Restriction of inhaling e-cigarettes in public may be tricky since they are not a tobacco product since they contain nicotine, considered less harmful their safety to date has not been assured.
According to University of Cape Town head of the lung clinical research unit Dr Richard van Zyl-Smit says the e-cigarette is a device which does not fit in tobacco nor medication making the tobacco restriction policy difficult.
"It’s going to be a government policy regulation. The tricky part facing the government is that e-cigarettes are not a tobacco product because they contain nicotine, so they don’t fall within the tobacco legislation, which says you can or can’t smoke a cigarette here or there. And so they are a new form of device, a new compound that does not really fit into tobacco or medication," he says.
The battery powered device releases vapours such as nicotine, flavours or tobacco extracts to the lungs which carry far less amounts of harmful components. Deemed safer than normal cigarettes, the Cancer Association of South Africa say e-cigarettes can appeal to young smokers as harmless while tobacco as a product releases between 4000-8000 chemicals.
This comes after the government is considering to restrict the public use of e-cigaretts, the same as tobacco cigarettes.
