Medicinal e-cigarette? Raids on importers

Raids on liquid direct importers of e-cigarettes: Federal Ministry of Health classifies electronic replacement cigarettes as pharmaceuticals

04/03/2012

According to some estimates, meanwhile 1.2 million people in Germany regularly use the electric cigarette, also called "e-cigarette" for short. On the Internet, real "fan communities" have formed, which regularly exchange information on use, benefits and the daily events around the topic of e-cigarettes. Authorities and health politicians, however, warn against the dangers of consumption, although the e-cigarettes are actually less harmful to health than the conventional Glimmerstängel. Therefore, they suspect "there is a campaign by the tobacco industry in progress" to stop the spread of electrical appliances. A cargo from China was confiscated at Frankfurt am Main airport and raids were subsequently carried out at three dealers.

There are not many studies that have studied the ingredients and modes of action. Those who have already started the first investigations unanimously conclude that the health disadvantages compared to conventional tobacco smoking are rather low. This is precisely why many former tobacco smokers rely on the e-cigarette and prefer to evaporate nicotine, which can only be considered life-threatening in very high doses because the human organism can break down the neurotoxin in a relatively short time. In contrast, traditional tobacco burning releases thousands of toxins, most of which are carcinogenic and, in the long term, severely stress the cardiovascular system. The consequences: lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, heart attack, stroke and high blood pressure. Actually health politicians could breathe a sigh of relief when former smokers try to quit smoking with the e-cigarette. But the German bureaucracy sees in the e-cigarette, a drug that should not be sold commercially.

So far, no known negative effects to ban e-cigarette
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has criticized the alkaloid as containing residues of harmful toxins. However: In cigarettes, these substances are usually contained in much greater concentration. A new Californian study was published in the US trade magazine "Tobacco Control". The researchers complained that some purchased cartridges could leak out. After use, these could "still contain residues of nicotine". The used cartridges with minimal nicotine content get into the household waste during disposal. However, the research consortium was unable to account for further negative effects.

It followed, however, that health experts, politicians and authorities now classify electronic cigarettes as medicines similar to nicotine patches. Thus, retailers without a pharmacy license are unlikely to sell the products freely. Anyone who does it nevertheless has to expect heavy fines, suspended sentences or even up to one year in prison, because the drug law applicable in Germany is violated.

Confiscation by customs and raids at dealers
Until some time ago, the assumptions of the authorities and politicians were not put into action. But it seems as if the times are on storm: The responsible for the airport freight prosecutor Frankfurt am Main has seized last week according to own data "falsely declared liquid vial from China". A total of 30 criminal cases were initiated against suspected persons involved. Subsequently, under the supervision of the public prosecutor's office, the police meanwhile undertook three house searches with dealers in North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony.

The customs investigation in the Lower Saxony state capital of Hannover, which undertook the raids in Wunstorf announced: "The confiscated liquid containers are examined in the laboratory." So far, however, it is not clear whether the labor inspectorate will carry out the investigation or the Pharmaceutical Office North in Bremen. According to what criteria the confiscated bottles are to be investigated, the investigating authorities have so far provided no precise information. According to unconfirmed claims, an official told a trader that it was allegedly "whether the nicotine levels indicated are the same as those that have been recorded".

Lobby association suspects further harassment and search wave
The association of e-cigarette providers (VdeH) suspects that it has not only remained with the three publicly disclosed searches. Rather, the association estimates that up to 30 raids on direct importers in Germany have taken place or are yet to take place.

At the end of February, the left-wing parliamentary group had launched a total of 47 questions as part of a "small request to the Federal Government". The left-wing group asked, for example, how the "inhaled substances in the body react during evaporation" or "how much liquid is inhaled at all?". The purpose of the request, according to the party, is to find out what advantages there are over conventional smoking stunts for the health of consumers. Faction leader Gregor Gysi currently represents a liquid liquor distributor. This defends itself against the statements of the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Health Barbara Steffens (Greens), which had recently warned of the dangers of e-cigarettes.

From the replies of the Federal Government one could deduce that in the future further investigations are started and still more traders are searched, so the fear of the VdeH. In its response, the Federal Government referred to the assessments of the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM). The distributors in the present case have advertised their products in such a way that they have the impression that they are being advertised and sold for smoking cessation. The association disagrees: In general, e-cigarettes and accessories are not advertised as medicines. One argument, however, is that many "steamer" say they have put in a smoke stop since the use of electrical appliances. (Sb)

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Picture: Matthias Preisinger