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Hajek P, Etter J-F et al. Addiction 2014; 10.1111/add.12659

Electronic cigarettes were invented by Hon Lik (Cantonese Yale, Han Li) in Hong Kong in 2003. More recently, the tobacco manufacturers have joined dozens of other manufacturers of electronic cigarettes and there are now hundreds of different models. Eighty one papers were interrogated in this literature review. The key findings were, 1) long-term use of electronic cigarettes, compared with combustible cigarettes, were much less harmful, if at all to users, or indeed passive smokers, 2) although there is little evidence that electronic cigarettes deter smokers from quitting, they are associated with a smoking reduction on an individual level, but this has not been shown on a population basis, 3) there is little evidence that electronic cigarettes act as a 'gateway' to smoking, 4) there is no evidence of the use of electronic cigarettes by non-smoking children, and 5) electronic cigarettes are not increasing the popularity or sales of cigarettes. It is noted that, the European Parliament has recently decided not to licence electronic cigarettes as medicines.