Electronic cigarette (e-cigs), which may cause new form of nicotine addiction as well as deepen harm of traditional tobacco, is becoming a big public health issue across the world. The regulatory regime for e-cigs has not been established in China. The government is facing with how to define and regulate e-cigs. We conducted a literature review on the structure and composition of electronic cigarettes, market development, effect of e-cigs on health, development of international regulations, game between tobacco control and tobacco industry, and prevalence of e-cigs in China. To prevent e-cigs from deepening traditional tobacco harm or starting an epidemic era of new form of tobacco product through legal channel, we put forward policy recommendations on regulation of e-cigs from public health perspective.
【摘 要】 电子烟可造成新型尼古丁成瘾，还可能加重传统烟草的危害，是全球一个巨大的公共卫生隐患，但目前中国的监管制度尚未建立，相关部门面临着如何定性电子烟、如何管制的问题。为此，本文对电子烟的结构和组成、市场发展、对人体的影响、国际社会管制措施的发展、烟草控制与烟草业的博弈、中国电子烟的流行形势等进行了综述，立足公共卫生对电子烟的监管提出政策建议，防止电子烟通过合法渠道加深传统烟草危害或开启新型烟草流行时代。