E-cigarettes New pilot opened

Process for the e-cigarette at the Frankfurt district court

06/17/2013

A pilot procedure at Frankfurt district court should bring clarity to the classification of e-cigarettes. If the liquids to be evaporated fall under the Medicinal Products Act, in the future only a sale in the pharmacy would be permitted and the substances would have to undergo appropriate test procedures beforehand.

Since the e-cigarette has become increasingly popular in Germany, discussions about its effects on health have come up again and again. From various quarters, an evaluation of nicotine-containing liquids evaporated in e-cigarettes has been demanded as a drug, which would result in a limitation of the delivery to pharmacies. In several federal states procedures started, which should contribute to a clarification. Thus became according to message of the news agency „dpa“ is currently also opening a lawsuit at Frankfurt district court to clarify whether the e-cigarettes are a stimulant or a medicine.

The prosecution is targeted at a businessman who, according to the prosecutor, allegedly violated the Medicines Act by importing and reselling the nicotine-containing liquid used to load the e-cigarettes. Admittedly, on the very first day of the trial, the defendant admitted that he had made a deal with the liquids. But he had assumed that these are legal stimulants. An assessment that seems quite understandable given the unclear legal situation. For example, the Munich Administrative Court recently ruled in a similar case that e-cigarettes are not covered by the Medicines Act. Nevertheless, the 46-year-old businessman from North Rhine-Westphalia must now answer to the Frankfurt district court and the outcome remains uncertain until the verdict is announced. (Fp)