All smokers are well aware of the risks that take with their health every time they light another cigarette.

Smoking and the Law

It is ironic that the same government that tells us to stop smoking, raises over £12 billion annually in taxes on cigarettes. The only other substance that is sanctioned by the government while also harming its users is alcohol. You can also find further information about the medical research carried out so far full story.

There is an increasing movement making lots of noise, voicing their concerns over the potential dangers of vaporizer smoking devices.

Each year, 200 people die in work related accidents, leading the government to introduce health and safety legislation to protect them, however, at the same time they allow 100,000 people to die each year from smoking related illnesses because the exchequer needs the tobacco duty.

If everyone stopped smoking, the government would have to raise £12.1 billion from other taxes to balance its books. We can conclude that if there is enough profit involved, the government won't necessarily protect us.

E-Cigarettes and Possible Regulation

The lost tax revenue from smokers switching to electronic cigarettes will force the exchequer to look at the regulation and taxation of e-liquid. Regulation will lead to the e-cigarette industry being taken over by the large conglomerates. Lost tobacco duty needs to be found from somewhere so it seems only logical that e-cigarettes will be regulated and taxed. The only reason for the regulation of e-cigarettes will be to enable tax to be levied on e-liquid.

Competitors to electronic Cigarettes

Both the tobacco industry and the smoking cessation industry have the most to lose from the rising popularity of electronic cigarette devices. Nicotine patches and gum don't give the user the same satisfying hit of nicotine when used. The tobacco industry can't really argue against e-cigarettes on health grounds because their product is proven to kill people. It is believed in some quarters that the tobacco companies are quietly supporting the smoking cessation industries campaign against e-cigarettes.

Likely Regulation of Electronic Cigarettes

When the main concern of legislators is how to preserve their income from the duty on cigarettes, rather than the health of the general population, it makes you wonder whose best interests our politicians have at heart? If duty is applied to e-liquid then people may well decide to save money by making their own, which is quite easy to do. Whether people will end up making their own e-liquids is sufficient numbers to affect the government's finances remains to be seen. As long as cigarettes tasted ok and had nicotine in them we weren't that concerned where they came from as I recall. Depending on how quickly the use of e-cigarettes grows, it is likely that we will see regulation introduced. The important thing for the government is to find a way to effective tax e-liquid.

If governments can't successfully apply tax to e-liquid then in all probability they will choose to ban the devices regardless of the fact that they are less harmful that tobacco cigarettes. As the use of electronic smoking devices grows, it is inevitable that they will be taxed and regulated as this will allow the government to recover shrinking tobacco duty revenues. Tobacco duty receipts are set to steadily fall as more smokers switch to electronic devices.

The inevitable conclusion is that electronic cigarettes will be regulated at some point in the near future so that they can be taxed to offset lost tobacco duty receipts.