Promoting innovation

A UK minister has said he would consider the use of cigarette packs to promote electronic cigarettes as a smoking-cessation aid, according to a story by Julia Robinson for The Pharmaceutical Journal
The proposal was put to Steve Brine, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary Care, by MP Stephen Metcalfe at a House of Commons Science and Technology Committee hearing on e-cigarettes.
Brine was giving evidence along with representatives from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Public Health England (PHE), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
Tim Baxter, who, at the DHSC, is the director of healthy behaviours, reportedly told the committee that under current legislation it was illegal to put promotional material into cigarette packs, but he agreed with Brine that it was something the government should look into further.
“It’s an interesting point, let me think about it,” Brine told MPs. “In a time of tight resource it’s a very direct message.”
Brine told the committee it was important to continue building a robust evidence base around e-cigarettes so that it would become “a no-brainer” for local authorities to make the decision to promote them as a smoking cessation aid.
Robinson’s story is at: https://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/news/steve-brine-open-minded-on-using-cigarette-packets-to-promote-vaping/20204755.article.