# E-cigarettes Should Be Called 'nicotine Sticks' To Curb Appeal, Experts Say



## Alex (30/8/14)

*E-cigarettes should be called 'nicotine sticks' to curb appeal, experts say*

Renaming the devices may help discourage younger people from using devices, according to Royal Society for Public Health

The Guardian, Friday 29 August 2014 19.31 BST
Jump to comments (124)






E-cigarettes are often used for pleasure by smokers who are not trying to kick the habit. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

Public health experts are demanding that electronic cigarettes be renamed in a bid to reverse their fast-growing appeal to young people. The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) wants the devices to no longer be described as anything involving the word "cigarettes" and instead become classified as "nicotine sticks". Strong action is needed to stop young people in particular seeing e-cigarettes as cool and glamorous, as some may then start smoking real cigarettes as a result, it fears.

"What's in a name? Quite a lot actually, when it comes to electronic cigarettes. Our view is that they should not be called 'e-cigarettes'. We need to distance the naming from cigarettes", Shirley Cramer, the society's chief executive, told the Guardian.

"A name change would minimise the appeal of such cigarettes to young people. We want to ensure that these products don't begin to be seen as lifestyle choices and as something that appears cool or trendy and we would thus want to see them called 'nicotine sticks' or something like that", Cramer added. "If you called them nicotine sticks instead, it would make them less attractive and would hopefully discourage young people from using them and make them less swayed by all the advertising and marketing."

The RSPH, which represents 6,000 public health specialists across the UK, wants e-cigarette manufacturers to voluntarily agree to change the names or, if they do not, for ministers to consider legislating. E-cigarettes were invented in China as a way of helping smokers quit, but are often used for pleasure by smokers who are not trying to kick the habit. Doctors and health charities are divided over the threat posed by the devices, which an estimated 2.1 million Britons use, and how to limit harm from them, though hard evidence about their impact is still in short supply.

Next week a group of leading British experts, including Professor Robert West, the director of tobacco research at University College London, will publish a detailed critique in the journal Addiction, of the World Health Organisation's demand this week for tighter regulation of e-cigarettes, including a ban on using them indoors.
In a new policy paper on how to respond to their growing popularity the RSPH says: "Electronic cigarettes are significantly less harmful than smoked tobacco, and despite some products being visually similar to cigarettes, they are essentially nicotine containing products, or NCPs, like patches and gum". Renaming them "nicotine sticks" would remind consumers of their true purpose, Cramer said.

ASH, the anti smoking charity, backed a name change. "ASH shares RSPH's concern that the term 'e-cigarette' is not a particularly useful description given that the products are not cigarettes, do not contain tobacco and they are not smoked. Including 'cigarette' in the name is confusing and does little to help public understanding of these devices", said Amanda Sandford, its research manager.

"Finding the right word is tricky but as users are increasingly referring to the products as 'vapourisers' and the act of using them as 'vaping', this may be preferable", she added. The RSPH also wants tight controls on the promotion of e-cigarettes, such as the endorsement of particular brands by celebrities such as Mischa Barton, Bruno Mars and Rick Rock, and their positioning in shops, which can often be close to confectionery.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We have no plans to regulate the names used for these products. But we are taking steps to protect children by banning them for under 18s and the European Tobacco products Directive [in 2016] will bring in new rules about how they are advertised."

Edit: I loved the comments on this article.


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## M4dm0nk3y (30/8/14)

Nicotine sticks, haha - then what about a box mod like the Hana? You could hardly liken that to a stick, lol

Vaporiser sounds fine - that is essentially what they are

Reactions: Agree 1


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## M4dm0nk3y (30/8/14)

Hahaha, just had to post this extract from the article's comments

*Dolpheran*
*29 August 2014 8:07pm*
You seriously think that renaming them 'nicotine sticks' will make a difference?
Firstly, people will still call them cigarettes for a long time yet.
Secondly, the name 'nicotine sticks' is not in any way discouraging. Any kind of positive association can be dredged from that kind of usage. Nicotine sticks, glow sticks, devil sticks. Still cool.

*nadreck Dolpheran*
*29 August 2014 10:02pm*
'Nicotine sticks' is off-putting simply because it's too long. They'd soon become known as 'Nic sticks'. I sometimes wonder if the killjoys live in another world.

*trotskyite nadreck*
*29 August 2014 10:28pm*
NicStic - an excellent name for an e-cig - I can almost see the font it should be written in...

Reactions: Like 1


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## M4dm0nk3y (30/8/14)

Lol, having a chuckle at this comment (last one I'm putting up here, couldn't resist):

*Zafar*
*29 August 2014 8:13pm*
This thread is going to become a roll call for ex-smokers extolling the virtues of switching to e-cigs pretty quickly, and rightly so. It's seems like barely a week passes without another story aimed at discrediting them appears across our national press. It's making it harder and harder not to see all of this as part of a concerted effort by those with financial interests in real cancer sticks to bury what could be a genuine game, nay, life changer.

_The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) wants the devices to no longer be described as anything involving the word "cigarettes" and instead become classified as "nicotine sticks"._
_Strong action is needed to stop young people in particular seeing e-cigarettes as cool and glamorous, as some *may* then start smoking real cigarettes as a result, it fears._

Classic scaremongering. No facts to speak of, but won't somebody think of the children!

*nadreck -> Zafar*
*29 August 2014 10:07pm*
Quite right. Here in Wales, the powers-that-be talk of e-cigs as the dreaded 'gateway'. I would like to see anyone using this term howled down. Or, preferably, shot.

Reactions: Like 1


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## MarkK (30/8/14)

If they were truly experts they would not be trying to rename vaping, They would also not be so paranoid...

Seriously wtf is wrong with my vaping? I do it mostly in privacy, I DO NOT SHARE WITH CHILDREN, I don't let children watch me vape .
I don't walk into this "experts" house and tell him he may not use carpets because its a tripping hazard. I do not set rules for other people , I am not out in the world every day telling people what they can and cant.

Please oh PLEASE tell me who or why or when we decided that one or two people know better then the entire population of the planet?
Is it really such a problem for the world?

Get out of my life with your rules and regulations! I Have MORALS and its all I need! I make SURE to respect other people and their space,
Please tell me why no one will respect my space and let me vape without jumping down my throat with their opinion...

Vaping does not cause cancer! It causes strong opinions and ignorant responses from "the enlightened" to shower on you all day..

/Rant

Reactions: Like 2


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## Danny (30/8/14)

I completely disagree with what they are saying anyway. Anti-smoking lobbyists have done a very good job of planting associations of blackened tarred lungs, stained teeth eetc etc etc with the word cigarette. Breaking the association of that word with vaping in my opinion would do more harm than good. You cant exactly once changing the terminology attched to the product build fake negative associations to that terminology, the term cigarette conjures up all kinds of nasty imagery that hasnt been proven to be true for the vaping devices. Leave that association in place IMO. Its true I guess that idiocy is sadly infinite.


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## rogue zombie (30/8/14)

You know what, I don't disagree with anti-vaping campaigns 'in public'.

I have noticed how youngsters including my 6 year-old think it "looks cool." This is probably exactly the same pattern of thoughts that led to me smoking. I know for a fact that I did not like cigarettes when I first lit up. It's obviously the fact that I thought my dad was "cool" that spurred me on.

My dad is now in his final innings - emphensyma, lung cancer and a couple of strokes later.

I sure as hell don't want my kids doing ANYTHING that could be avoided. I vape in the bathroom, and change the subject when I've noticed my little one has picked up on a conversation involving vaping. Because you know what - it is not carrots and broccoli intake! It is still nicotine intake.

A massive HOWEVER though - most of us vapers were on our way to lung cancer and worse, so give us a freekin break!

But I do also understand that we shouldn't be encouraging it. 

I just find it amusing how society is scrambling on how to deal with this "e-cigarette". It would help if some really huge public figure/d helped it along. Unfortunately right now, it's the big unknown - how do we handle it. 

Make no mistake though - when my kids ask about it, I say I vape because I was once stupid, and this is a lesser evil.


Sent via a NASA satellite which gathers my thoughts and relays them to the world

Reactions: Agree 1


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## rogue zombie (30/8/14)

Oh and yes, a name change seems futile to me. Like that will change anything.


Sent via a NASA satellite which gathers my thoughts and relays them to the world


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