Waiting for a safe e-cigarette in Sweden

A Swedish court has ruled that electronic cigarettes should be treated as pharmaceutical products subject to approval by the Swedish Medical Products Agency (Läkemedelsverket – MPA), according to a story in The Local.

The ruling means that it is illegal for these products to be sold in grocery and convenience stores.

“We will continue our oversight, which will result in more sales bans when the ruling becomes final,” said Martin Burman at the MPA.

In October, the MPA issued a sales ban on one of the biggest retailers in the electronic cigarette market.

The decision was appealed and several new sales outlets popped up during the Administrative   Court’s deliberations.

The court has now rejected the appeal and the MPA hopes that the decision will allow for greater control of the market.

“We have a good check on the major importers and will focus on imports,” said Burman. “Municipalities are able to conduct oversight of sales in small shops.”

The MPA seems not to be opposed to the concept of electronic cigarettes and apparently hopes that the ban will lead to new, safer products being launched on to the market.

“Those sold today are neither proven safe or effective,” said Burman.

“We believe that e-cigs are a great way to stop smoking but an approved product has to be developed first.”