New Controversial Electronic Cigarettes Make Big Claims July 9, 2014 09:22

The number of brands of e-cigarettes currently available in the market is about 500 and every month at least 10 more new brands are getting added. One of the newly added local brands has been strongly criticized by doctors as well as concerned parents.

The "Get" brand of e-cigarettes sold by several Canadian e-cigarette retailers comes with names such as "Get-Energized", "Get-Relaxed", "Get-Lean" and "Get-Intimate". The manufacturer claims that these e-cigarettes will help people experience a boost in energy and libido. They further claim that they can also help people to lose weight as they are capable of suppressing ones appetite.

Whereas the key ingredient of "Get-Lean" e-cigarettes is hoodia, a herbal supplement that is widely promoted as a diet pill, "Get-Energized" and "Get-Intimate" e-cigarettes contain caffeine and epimedium (purportedly a natural aphrodisiac), respectively.

It is not possible to know how much of these ingredients are present in their e-cig products as the packaging does not provide any information. Moreover, the website for getvapes.com is under construction at the time of this writing.

According to Dr. Milan Khara who heads the Smoking Cessation Clinic at the General Hospital in Vancouver, Canada, the dosages and quality of these products are not controlled in any manner as they are not subject to any regulations.

The ingredients found in these e-cigarettes are natural health products as far as Health Canada is concerned. In an email, Health Canada noted that for legally selling the products in the country they need to have natural product authorization numbers. However, theses e-cigarettes packages displayed on racks meant for special promotions by Rexall drug stores throughout Canada do not carry any authorization numbers.

Dr. Khara opined that the target market for this particular electronic cigarette is teenagers as well as young people. Denying Dr. Khara’s claim, Derek Tupling, Rexall’s corporate communications director, said that the drug store does not market or promote these products to young people. He added that e-cigarette can be legally sold in Canada.

The concern voiced by health officials is that such designer e-cigarettes may make children turn to smoking tobacco eventually. Dr. Khara said, “These products are likely to set kids on track for the use of traditional cigarettes."