Posted by Tyler Peterson on November 8, 2013 Under Ecigarette News

The discussion has been going out for quite a while rather or not electronic cigarettes should be treated as medicines. The proponents say it s easier to control if people need a prescription to buy electronic cigarettes minors wouldn t be able to buy e cigarettes either. Another way of looking at it when people seriously want to quit smoking and their doctor agrees this is the best medicine , it could save the smoker money.

The opponents on the other hand, don t see electronic cigarettes as a worthy replacement of tobacco cigarettes. In fact, is has never been proven that electronic cigarette are really able to totally replace tobacco cigarettes. Another side of opponents shows that smokers of electronic cigarettes want to be able to get their e cigarette in an easy way. No hassle with doctors or prescriptions, just buy the e cigarette when you re in need. After all tobacco cigarettes are available in stores as well.

At the end of October the European Parliament finally made a statement on whether or not electronic cigarette should be treated like a medicines. They decided NOT. This doesn t mean the discussion has come to an end, but it does mean an important step has been made in the regulation of e cigarettes.

The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has up till now not made a decision yet regarding electronic cigarettes. This is probably even more important than the decision made by the European Parliament. In 2010 the proposition of the FDA s to regulate electronic cigarettes like medicines was denied by the court. The FDA has promised to come forward with a new plan to regulate electronic cigarettes. They already gave away it contains a ban of selling e cigarettes to minors. FDA says they will present their plan this year.

The decision not to treat electronic cigarettes as medicines is not the only aspect that s decided by the EP. Electronic cigarettes are also not available any more for people under the age of 18. This is a big disappointment to a lot of people. A lot of teenagers start smoking between 14 and 18. While getting an e cigarette used to be an option for them, it s not anymore. Most teenagers won t let this stop them and will automatically choose for tobacco cigarettes. Both cigarettes need to be bought by somebody else and we all know teenagers will get something done if they want to.

The advertising is being regulated as well. While e cigarettes brand were allowed to advertise everywhere they want, television, magazines, billboards etc, there are tight restrictions now in promoting electronic cigarettes. However, these restrictions are for every country individual to decide. The advertising ban is to take effect in eight years.

The discussion in Europe was fierce. Since the electronic cigarette is just starting to bloom, a lot of small brands already have trouble making profit. The regulations won t help them to grow, but treating e cigarettes as medicine would be the deathblow. The argument that electronic cigarettes support a healthier lifestyle for smokers, didn t withstand with the board. They stated electronic cigarettes don t make you healthier right away. They gave examples as orange juice or vegetables which contains vitamins and makes your body healthier right away. An electronic cigarette itself is not healthy there is no component in the e cigarette what is actually good for you. Although there are no components bad for your body either, this was considered an important fact. The fact that narrowing down or even quit smoking with the help of electronic cigarette didn t stand either more research have to be done to proof this.

The legalization of the new rules regarding e cigarettes still has a long way to go. The rules need to be taken up by European Commission in Brussel and the European Council (representatives of the nations). Although the Commission as well as the Council were tending to treat e cigarettes like medicines, chances are pretty big they will agree with the presented regulation. Since there is no scientific proof yet that electronic cigarettes are a welcome substitute for tobacco cigarettes, it can t be seen as a medicine. A medicine which will be described to help people stop smoking. The decision not to treat e cigarette as a medicine is probably the safest decision at this point.

After the Commission and Council approve of the new regulations regarding e cigarettes, it s up to the countries of Europe to find a way to implement these regulations in their country. It s also up to the counties to decide how strict they want to implement the regulations.

Cheap cigarettes in europe in the answerbank: travel

Marlboro cigarettes on vimeo

Buenchico The cheapest place which you can bring back an ‘unlimited’ quantity from (subject to HMRC’s guideline maximum ‘personal use’ figure of 3200) is probably still Belgium. Taxes have been increased but prices are probably still lower than elsewhere.

Cigarettes may be (significantly) cheaper in some of the ‘new’ EU countries but you can only bring back 200.

Chris

PS I’ve never smoked (or ‘bootlegged’) a single cigarette in my life. This information is based upon what friends have told me (except for the customs limits which are derived from the HMRC website). If any smokers (and/or bootleggers) know better, I’ll happily bow to their superior knowledge. 22 52 Sun 12th Nov 2006
NORMANTHEDOG the eastern european countries that have recently joined the eu are very cheap 00 25 Mon 13th Nov 2006
Buenchico As Norman states, the former Soviet block countries generally have very low prices for cigarettes. However, that doesn’t really help most travellers very much. If you try to import more than 200 cigarettes from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia or Slovenia, you’ll either have to pay duty or (if you don’t declare them) risk confiscation and possible prosecution
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Chris 01 26 Mon 13th Nov 2006
ugly bob Unfortunately, Chris is right. EU taxes on cigarettes have increased a lot recently, making European cigarettes a lot more expensive than they were. I think (but I’m not sure) that there’s a fairly standard price of 40 Euros ish (around 28) for 200 cigs now in most EU countries.
If, however, you go to Andorra/Gibraltar/Canaries/Eastern Europe, you can get them a lot cheaper, but you face import limits.
The former Eastern Bloc countries have limits on how much you can import that usually are 200 cigarettes, but other tobacco varies significantly from country to country. 10 38 Mon 13th Nov 2006
vicalncraig Lativa 17 22 Mon 13th Nov 2006
filthiestfis Yes Buenchico and ugly bob have got it absolutely correct. I have never been stopped at customs on my return from hol in London but others have been, so I wont recommend that you attempt to bring back more than the 200 cigs limit ) 04 24 Wed 15th Nov 2006
tobacconline Hi Andy, I live in Hungary and am just about to open a website we are going to start selling cigarettes to EU countries and as clearly stated here the max you can import is 200 for private use, but that is 200 at a time so you could import 800 a month as long as they are for personal use, this is obviously a grey the court case going on at present … 21 08 Wed 22nd Nov 2006
JackWales Try Budapest, in Hungary. I was there over Christmas and Lambert & Butler worked out at 1.40 a pack (!). I bought 15 cartons at the airport on the way home (filled two carrier bags. I saved over 500 more than enough to pay for my 5 day holiday. By the way, I was in Amsterdam last November (2007) quite expensive there cheaper than the UK (isn’t everywhere?) but, if I remember, about 3.50 a pack.
Happy hunting 15 57 Mon 11th Feb 2008 answer removed
viperrey Most cheapest cigarettes in EU online stores.

Cheap cigarettes EU store for example 13 36 Tue 06th May 2008 answer removed answer removed answer removed answer removed
likecamel I suggest you to try to buy at online cigarettes stores like / Discount prices and good quality 14 07 Thu 13th Feb 2014