Plans by the European Union to regulate electronic cigarettes as medical products may prove too costly for smaller companies in the fast-growing market for an alternative to traditional smokes, e-cig retailer Totally Wicked said.

Proposals tabled earlier by the EU Health Council and this week by a committee of the European Parliament call for regulating e-cigarettes with more than a trace of nicotine as medicines.
"E-cigarettes can only be considered medicinal if they directly treat a disease", the UK company said in a statement. "Far from helping those smokers who want to switch, medicines regulation will add costs, impose burdens, apply restrictions, and hold back innovation. It may result in many smaller and more innovative producers of electronic cigarettes going out of business."