Summary

The burgeoning e-cigarette market has provoked deliberations about emerging e-cigarettes science, public health concerns and regulatory policy approaches. Some scientists perceive e-cigarettes as a potentially less harmful alternative to traditional tobacco products. By contrast, others fear e-cigarette use will promote tobacco consumption by “re-normalizing” tobacco use, especially among teens and young adults. The FDA plans to regulate e-cigarettes and will release rules regarding warning labels, youth access and vending machine sales sometime in the future. The World Health Organization also has weighed in, issuing strong guidelines for regulation. These steps have been applauded by some public health pundits and criticized by others. This Forum event explored aspects of the fiercely debated e-cigarette market, including marketing to youth, content of warning labels, design of products, evidence for science-based policymaking, and context of e-cigarettes within the lengthy history of tobacco use and control.

Presented in collaboration with Reuters, this event was organized with the Center for Global Tobacco Control and the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Part of: Policy Controversies.

Presented in Collaboration with Reuters

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Image Credit: © Reuters/Christian Hartmann