Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS)-commonly called e-cigarettes-are at the center of a polarized debate. How should they be regulated? Central to this debate is the concern that e-cigarettes could lead to the renormalization of smoking and that the regulation of ENDS should therefore be modeled on the regulation of conventional cigarettes. I argue that arguments based on the renormalization of smoking can lend support to restrictions on marketing of ENDS, but that such arguments are problematic when used to justify restrictions on where ENDS can be used. The debate has been insufficiently sensitive to the ethical complexities of attempts to manipulate social norms to change health behaviors; these complexities must also inform the debate about ENDS and their regulation.
A growing body of empirical research examines the effects of the so-called "social determinants of health" (SDH) on health and health inequalities. Several high-profile publications have issued policy recommendations to reduce health inequalities based on a specific interpretation of this empirical research as well as a set of normative assumptions. This article questions the framework defined by these assumptions by focusing on two issues: first, the normative judgments about the (un)fairness of particular health inequalities; and second, the policy recommendations issued on this basis. We argue that the normative underpinnings of the approach are insufficiently supported and that the policy recommendations do not necessarily follow from the arguments provided. Furthermore, while many of the policies recommended-such as improving people's living conditions and reducing inequalities in wealth and power-are justified in their own right, the way these recommendations are tied to health is problematic.
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