Is it ethical for one company to offer for sale ‘both the evil and the remedy’?

A member of the European Parliament has questioned the ethics of tobacco manufacturers moving into the e-cigarette business.

Marc Tarabella, a Belgian MEP, noted in a preamble to questions he asked of the European Commission that all of the main cigarette companies had already bought “one or several electronic cigarette brands.”

The objective of these companies was clear, Tarabella said: to be completely in control by offering “both the evil and the remedy.”

“This is a serious problem,” he said.

“With such practices, ethics risk going up in smoke.”

Tarabella asked:

1. What is the Commission’s reaction?

2. Is there not a conflict of interest, or an ethical problem? What does the Commission plan to do?

The Commission will reply in writing at a later date.