Via F2C, I see that the BBC has implied that e-cigarettes might have killed a man in North East England.
Gateshead doctor calls for research into 'e-cigarettes'
A doctor from Tyneside has called for more research into "electronic" cigarettes following the death of one of his patients.
The wording of this non-story is extremely vague for the very good reason that there is no evidence that e-cigarettes did—or could—contribute to this man's death. El Beeb doesn't mention that the deceased had been a heavy smoker for decades, nor that the doctor involved—Dr Robert Allcock—is not any old GP, but is on the advisory panel of Smokefree Northeast and campaigns for various anti-tobacco policies. UKVapers has a more sober assessment of the story here.
And via Snus Central, it seems that another alleged health group is turning the screw in its efforts to keep people smoking cigarettes:
The Swedish snus eStore owned by World Wide Snus AB has been shut down and its assets seized. At the time of this writing, we're told a cancer organization in Finland filed suit against the Swedish snus store for allegedly selling snus to customers in Finland. This cancer organization apparently won the suit.
Latest information is that Finland presented the findings to Swedish Customs. On Tuesday, March 22nd, the Swedish Customs Service and local Police raided the SnusWorldWide.com facilities and seized them along with the inventory and other contents. World Wide Snus AB's bank accounts were simultaneously frozen.
If I'm not mistaken (let me know in the comments) this represents enforcement of the existing EU ban and is not a new restriction. It is illegal to export snus from Sweden for sale in any EU state—and that includes mail order and internet sales. Nevertheless, it is interesting that a "cancer organisation" would go to such trouble to prohibit a product that does not cause cancer.
Hopefully, the EU will see sense and repeal this absurd and counter-productive ban when the new Tobacco Products Directive is issued. In the meantime, Finns will have to buy their snus illegally, or from the US, or get back on the cigarettes.
