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“We have never seen any product, nicotine-replacement therapy product, that has generated so much interest on behalf of the smokers. … This is so amazing,” said François Damphousse, a researcher with the Non-smokers Rights Association, one of Canada’s most influential tobacco-control organizations.

“What you should do is permit it on the market and inform the public — ‘If you have to make a choice because you’re addicted, go for the safer product.’ ”

The battery-powered devices heat up a liquid that contains nicotine and flavouring, turning it into vapour and creating an experience akin to smoking, while providing a hit of the addictive drug. Missing are the thousands of chemicals, many of them carcinogenic, churned out by burning tobacco.

Citing the potential for “nicotine poisoning and addiction,” and potential irritation from the propylene glycol liquid, Health Canada issued a notice in 2009 that barred sales of the devices if they contain nicotine.

Health Canada is sometimes criticized for a less-than-aggressive approach to enforcing its rules. The regulator has gone after e-cigarette sellers, however, with relative gusto, seizing or turning back product being imported into Canada, as well as demanding a sales halt in most of the 250 complaints it has investigated, said Ms. Meerburg.

No charges have been laid.

‘If you have to make a choice because you’re addicted, go for the safer product’

The department has also asked that Internet-service providers cease hosting websites selling e-cigarettes, and told credit card companies, or third parties like PayPal, not to handle the retailers’ transactions, said Daniel David, head of the Electronic Cigarette Trade Association.