President Donald Trump has announced that the United States should introduce a ban on flavored e-cigarettes. CNN reports on the sixth death in the US believed to be related to e-smoking.

Josefin Jonsson is head of the tobacco prevention unit at the Public Health Authority.

Are there any documented cases of people who have been ill from smoking e-cigarettes in Sweden?

Josefin Jonsson, director of the Public Health Agency's tobacco prevention unit.

- It has happened that the e-cigarette itself has started to burn. There are cases where children have been drinking these liquids with concentrated nicotine and have been poisoned. But when it comes to problems associated with the smoke you pull down your lungs, there are no reported cases from either Sweden or Europe, says Josefin Jonsson.

In the United States, the cases that have occurred have been about chemical pneumonia and an investigation is now underway about which substances in the liquids you smoke that may have caused this, explains Josefin Jonsson. In several of the cases where complaints have been reported, the affected smoker has liquids containing cannabis that need to be dissolved in oil in order for the smoker to utilize the active substance THC. Investigators suspect that it may be these oils that cause health problems.

Similar rules

What are the rules for e-cigarettes and regular tobacco?

- An attempt has been made to create very parallel legislation and it is based on EU law. When it comes to smoking bans, it is the same for e-cigarettes as for other tobacco.

Something that distinguishes e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes is that it does not require a permit from the stores to sell e-cigarettes, but merely a notification that you are marketing the product. E-cigarettes are also not covered by the requirement for warning pictures and warning texts.

Prohibition is possible in Sweden

Trump talks about a ban. What is required for a ban in Sweden?

- There are quite good opportunities to ban products. If you find the substance that caused harm in the US, Swedish authorities can prohibit the products containing these substances.

Can there be a ban on just flavored e-cigarettes in Sweden?

- It could happen, absolutely. In Finland, seasoning has been banned. If we could see that smoking e-cigarettes in young shoots is going away, we could ban flavoring. This has been done with regular cigarettes and that ban will take effect in 2020, says Josefin Jonsson.