‘Vapers’ call on Brussels to keep hands off e-cigarettes

ELECTRONIC cigarette smokers have called for the EU to drop plans to regulate their new habit.

An online community of former smokers who use e-cigs, electronic devices that release a liquid vapour containing nicotine, have petitioned MEPs for support.

The group want “vaping” to be distinguished from the tobacco industry.

Shane Dowling, a vaper from from Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare, said: “We’ve been studying a proposed EU tobacco directive and giving feedback to the HSE.

“We see e-cigs as a safer alternative to tobacco. We are worried that EU legislation will reduce nicotine in these products and if that happens they might not work so well.”

Last month, the European Commission published a proposal for a new EU Tobacco Products Directive which recommends that nicotinecontaining products, such as electronic cigarettes, be allowed only if they are below stipulated nicotine threshold and carry a health warning.