British prime minister positive about e-cigarettes

The UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, has described the role of electronic cigarettes in helping people quit smoking as being a “very legitimate path for many people to improve their health,” according to a Hansard report.

On December 16, Hansard reported that the Conservative MP Mark Pawsey had asked Cameron about joining Pawsey in “highlighting the role that e-cigarettes can play in helping people give up tobacco”.

Pawsey had based his call on Public Health England’s report estimating that the use of electronic cigarettes was 95 percent less risky than was cigarette smoking.

The Prime Minister was quoted as responding that for some people electronic cigarettes were successful and that it should be made clear that this was a very legitimate path for many people to improve their health and therefore the health of the nation.

Pawsey made the point also that half the population was unaware of Public Health England’s report on electronic cigarette safety, though smoking cessation would be a New Year’s resolution for many people.

Cameron was quoted as saying, “we should look at the report from Public Health England, but it is promising that over one million people are estimated to have used e-cigarettes to help them quit or have replaced smoking with e-cigarettes completely”.