Smoking norms and the regulation of E-cigarettes

K. Voigt

American Journal of Public Health, 2015, vol. 105, issue 10, 1967-1972

Abstract: Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS)-commonly called e-cigarettes-are at the center of a polarized debate. How should they be regulated? Central to this debate is the concern that e-cigarettes could lead to the renormalization of smoking and that the regulation of ENDS should therefore be modeled on the regulation of conventional cigarettes. I argue that arguments based on the renormalization of smoking can lend support to restrictions on marketing of ENDS, but that such arguments are problematic when used to justify restrictions on where ENDS can be used. The debate has been insufficiently sensitive to the ethical complexities of attempts to manipulate social norms to change health behaviors; these complexities must also inform the debate about ENDS and their regulation.

Keywords: nicotine, drug delivery system; electronic cigarette; human; legislation and jurisprudence; marketing; smoking; world health organization, Drug Delivery Systems; Electronic Cigarettes; Humans; Marketing; Nicotine; Smoking; World Health Organization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302764_8

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302764

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