Because of the relative novelty of the technology and the possible relationship to tobacco laws and medical drug policies, electronic cigarette legislation and public health investigations are currently pending in many countries.
* In Australia, the sale of electronic cigarettes containing nicotine is illegal.
* In Brazil electronic cigarettes sales, importation or advertisement of any kind are forbidden. Anvisa, the Brazilian health and sanitation federal agency, found the current health safety assessments about e-cigarettes not to be yet satisfactory to make the product eligible to be approved for commercialization.
* In Canada, as of March 2009, imports, sales, and advertising are banned. In March 2009, Health Canada also advised Canadians not to purchase or use any electronic smoking products. Health Canada cited the Food and Drugs Act, stating that electronic smoking products containing nicotine require market authorization before they can be imported, marketed, or sold. No market authorization has been granted for any electronic smoking product.
* In Denmark, the Danish Medicines Agency classifies electronic cigarettes containing nicotine as medicinal products. Thus, authorization is required from the retailer before the product may be marketed and sold. The agency has clarified, however, that electronic cigarettes that do not administer nicotine to the user, and are not otherwise used for the prevention or treatment of disease, are not considered medicinal devices. The use of electronic cigarettes has not been prohibited in Copenhagen Airport, but at least one airline (Scandinavian Airlines) has decided to ban their use on board flights.
* In Netherlands, use and sale of electronic cigarettes is allowed, but advertising is forbidden pending European Union legislation.
* In New Zealand, the Ministry of Health has ruled that the Ruyan e-cigarette falls under the requirements of the Medicines Act, and cannot be sold except as a registered medicine.
* In Panama, importation, distribution and sale has been prohibited since June 2009. The Ministry of Health cites the FDA findings as their reason for the ban.
* In Singapore, the sale and import of electronic cigarettes, even for personal consumption, is illegal.
* In United Kingdom, use and sale of electronic cigarettes is currently unrestricted, although the MHRA has proposed bringing all nicotine products except tobacco within the medicines licensing regime.
United States
As of November 2009, use is unrestricted, however some imports are being seized. The FDA considers e-cigarettes to be a nicotine delivery system, subject to its approval.
However, in January 2010, federal judge Richard J. Leon ordered the FDA to stop blocking the importation of electronic cigarettes from China, and indicated that the devices should be regulated as tobacco products, rather than drug or medical devices: “[...] With the passage of landmark tobacco legislation last year, the FDA’s new tobacco division will be able to regulate the contents and marketing claims of e-cigarettes, in the same way it is about to begin regulating traditional tobacco products. But the agency’s drug division cannot ban the devices [...]“. Richards mentioned in his reasoning that e-cigarettes were not marketed as medical devices to help smokers quit, as FDA had argued, but rather as safer substitutes to give users the “nicotine hit that smokers crave”. In February 2010, the FDA began an appeal of the ruling in a federal appeals court in Washington. | Doesn’t the FDA have other things to do?
* In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have banned sales, stating “[...] If adults want to purchase and consume these products with an understanding of the associated health risks, they should be able to do so [...]“. | Kudos to Arnold for that!
* In New Jersey, legislators have started work on a proposal to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in all “no smoking areas” of the state. | No surprise here, NJ has there noses in everybodys business.