E-cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular. In 2011, 7 million people worldwide were smoking e-cigarettes. In 2016, that number had risen to 35 million and experts anticipate that by 2021 the numbers will be up to 55 million people. E-cigarettes are considered to be the “safe” and harmless alternative to tobacco cigarettes – finally you can wallow in the vice of smoking without any regrets! – not least due to the aggressive marketing of the cigarette manufacturers who, with vaping, are currently re-inventing smoking. Even though there are not yet any long term studies on the health hazards of e-cigarettes, more and more scientific evidence is indicating that smoking e-cigarettes is just as harmful as smoking tobacco cigarettes, if not more harmful!
At the moment, due to a legal loophole, in Switzerland e-cigarettes can in theory even be sold to school children, and they are not subject to the same restrictions as tobacco cigarettes, for example with respect to advertising or smoking bans. Although this is supposed to get changed, the mills of politics grind much too slowly, especially in matters of practicality coming into force. Because of this unacceptable situation and above all to protect the Swiss population, especially the children and youth from the negative impacts of smoking, The World Foundation for Natural Science has sent a letter to the Swiss Federal Council.
