Sir, It is indeed true that e-cigarettes can help established smokers to stop smoking (report, Sept 5). However, they deliver pure nicotine and it is now understood that nicotine is a “gateway” drug that lowers the threshold in the body for taking other addictive substances, notably cannabis and cocaine. This effect is biological, not emotional.
It follows that because of the danger of non-smokers, especially young people, experimenting in the false belief that e-cigarettes are safe, great caution should be exercised in their regulation and sale.
Professor Sir Denis Pereira Gray
(Past chairman, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges), Exeter