The government wants to encourage the use of electronic cigarettes, in an attempt to reduce the numbers killed in the UK by smoking related diseases, reports The Guardian.

The Cabinet Office's behavioural insight team – better known as the "nudge unit" – wants to adopt the new technology because policy officials believe the rigid "quit or die" approach to smoking advice no longer works. Rather, they want nicotine addiction to be managed to help smokers who otherwise won't quit – an approach the unit believes could prevent millions of smoking deaths.
The Guardian reports that experts have advised the UK government that the nicotine contained in some new, smoke-free cigarettes is no more harmful than caffeine in coffee. A Cabinet Office source said: "A lot of countries are moving to ban this stuff; we think that's a mistake." (pi)