The report highlights what we as vapers have known all along, here are just a few of the key points of the full report.
Smoking is the biggest avoidable cause of death and disability, and social inequality in health, in the UK.
People smoke because they are addicted to nicotine, but are harmed by other constituents of tobacco smoke.
E-cigarettes are proving much more popular than NRT as a substitute and competitor for tobacco cigarettes.
There are concerns that e-cigarettes will “renormalise” smoking, but to date, there is no evidence of this occurring to any significant degree in the UK.
In the interests of public health it is important to promote the use of e-cigarettes, NRT and other non-tobacco nicotine products as widely as possible.
There is a need for regulation to reduce adverse effects of e-cig use but the regulation should not be allowed to significantly inhibit the development and use of harm-reduction products.
It is excellent news that this comprehensive report fully recognises the importance of e-cigs as harm-reduction, however it may have come too late to prevent the damage that will be caused by the Tobacco Products directive coming into force next month, which will significantly inhibit the development and availability of these products.