The future of tobacco control is up for grabs. Nowhere was this more apparent than at this year’s US E-Cigarette Summit. [...] The theme of the two-day publicly broadcast event was “discussing the role that e-cigarettes and alternative nicotine products could play in ending or extending the smoking epidemic.” But a second, simpler one quickly emerged: regaining trust.

Some countries like the United Kingdom and New Zealand have embraced e-cigarettes as safer alternatives to combustible cigarettes, but many others have yet to admit their potential.