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The World Health Organization is interested in regulating e-cigarettes like all other tobacco products, but an international group of over 50 researchers is hoping to change its mind. The group has sent it a letter arguing that placing strong regulations on e-cigarettes would harm the opportunity for them to save millions of smokers lives by removing the ill effects of traditional cigarettes. We would miss out on a major opportunity to reduce smoke-related deaths.For the WHO to suggest that e-cigarettes are as risky as other tobacco products would send an erroneous and bleak message to the millions of current e-cigarette users who have used them to quit smoking, Robert West, a University College London researcher and a signatory of the letter, says in a statement. The jury is still out on the health effects of these cigarette alternatives, so for now the researchers just say that the WHO should ensure that it bases its policy on sound data.