Council not enforcing own law on sale of 'scheduled' e-cigarettes

E-CIGARETTES may only be sold in pharmacies, but retailers and manufacturers are breaking this law, saying they interpret it differently.

According to Medicines Control Council (MCC) regulations enacted last year, nicotine – the active ingredient in e-cigarettes – is either a Schedule 2 or 3 substance.

Scheduled substances by law can only be sold in pharmacies.

An MCC source said the threat of lawsuits from e-cigarette manufacturers was why the council was not enforcing its own regulations.

Electronic cigarettes are battery- operated inhalers that deliver nicotine in a vapour form.

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi's spokesman, Joe Maila, yesterday confirmed nicotine was a scheduled drug under the Medicines and Related Substance Act. "E-cigarettes therefore need to be prescribed by a doctor and bought with a prescription."

The MCC's regulations state: "Nicotine, when intended for human medicinal use as an aid to smoking cessation or as a substitute for a tobacco product, is Schedule 3."

But e-cigarettes are freely available over the counter at Twisp kiosks in shopping malls, garage shops and at Clicks stores. Twisp says it interprets the act differently, saying it only applies to people using electronic cigarettes as a medicinal substance and not recreationally.

Clicks says the same: "As the product does not make any medicinal or health claims and is not marketed to aid in smoking cessation, it does not fall under the ambit of the act." The council failed to respond to repeated inquiries as to why it did not enforce the regulation it enacted last year. - Katharine Child