The reasons for not imposing restrictive regulations of electronic cigarettes are numerous and I doubt if this proposal is based on logic or concern for public heath as anyone that uses them will testify that they are at least a useful aid to quit smoking and in many cases have been life changing.

Given that two out of three people who try to quit smoking end up back on cigarettes, electronic cigarettes eliminate the one most serious danger from smoking, that being the smoke itself. Carbon monoxide, ammonia and thousands of other possible toxins are excluded much like an inhalator but in a form that satisfies the craving for nicotine without the dangers of passive smoking.

The E-cig trade as a whole is self-regulating as it is not in the interest of any traders to poison a customer and attract adverse publicity to a growing market and one that has done more to help ex-smokers than any patch, gum, tablet or inhalator. This is not a trade selling dangerous toys or sweets to children it is sells results to adults. The general public are not to be underestimated when it comes to wedeling out get rich quick companies prepared to endanger them with shoddy or dangerous goods as the regular stream of questions I receive every day will testify to. Because this is essentially an internet based industry the customer has the means to find out for themselves the pros and cons and what companies offer the best and safest service. The same cannot be said for dealers in tobacco and in many cases, nicotine replacement products. Anyone my buy a mountain of gums and patches from one pound shops and these products are regulated.

Unlike cigarettes that are readily available to children from vending machines or unscrupulous shopkeepers electronic cigarettes, accessories and liquids offer a much greater level of protection by virtue of the fact that a credit card needs to be used to make a purchase.

Unlike the large drug companies that charge what they want for their products the competitive nature of our industry results in the public getting the best possible products at the best prices. If the multinational pharmaceutical giants had invented electronic cigarettes they would surely have been heralded as a cutting-edge miracle designed to help the chronic smoker and would, no doubt cost a small fortune.

Such regulation has thousands of e-cig devotees very worried as they see an end to a device that has helped them health wise and financially. Is this proposal designed to put the sale of these products into the hands of the pharmaceutical companies and therefore be taxed out of existence as, given the past performance of some of them I doubt that public safety is the main concern?

There has been an inordinate amount of disinformation circulated about possible dangers of electronic cigarettes by people of corporate bodies who are prepared to overlook the fact that the real monsters are smoking products. Millions of people die every year from cigarettes but it is a far safer pastime to berate e-cigs as potential killers because they are new and anything new is a fair target for the ill-informed or those who may have links to cigarette or drugs companies.

I have read documents stating that a child could die if they swallowed a cartridge. What would happen if a child swallowed an inhalator refill or as happened recently, chewed a month’s supply of nicotine gum?

As an ex-smoker of fifty plus cigarettes per day I sell these devices because I believe in them and I haven't had a cigarette since December 2008. My breathing has improved beyond expectation and I no longer pollute those around me.

In short, this is not a product or industry that requires regulation. Not everything new is dangerous or evil and government bureaucracy will only stifle this exciting and helpful sector of the market and take away the benefits from those who most need it.