A panel of public health professionals taken from across the US issued a report that concluded that vaping e-liquids containing nicotine could be addictive and may increase the likelihood that teenagers who use e-cigs can later start smoking traditional cigarettes. However, the devil is always in the details. The report of the panel admits that it wasn’t clear whether vaping simply created a need to try tobacco cigarettes or it fueled an urge to smoke. What isn’t strange is that people who vape can get addicted. Nicotine is addictive, so anyone consuming it is likely to get addicted at some point. The panel pointed out some gaps that called for further research, such as the long-term health effects of vaping. Their findings confirmed what has always been stated that vaping is safer than smoking traditional cigarettes. What remains to be seen is how the FDA will use the findings of this panel as it formulates policies and regulations affecting the vaping community.
Month: January 2018
New Oregon Law Raises Tobacco Use Age
An Oregon law that was signed last year took effect on 1st January, 2018 raising the minimum age at which people are allowed to buy any tobacco inhalant product, such as cigarettes and electronic cigarettes. The 34-page document now requires retailers to post notices stipulating that no one who is below 21-years of age is allowed to buy a tobacco product. Various institutions, such as schools, colleges/universities and correctional facilities must also post notices to that effect in addition to setting up policies and systems to enforce that restriction. This action by the state of Oregon increases the number of states that have taken such action to five. The measure now leaves vapers and smokers who were within the previous legal limit (18years and over) in a dilemma regarding how they will move forward.
Rising Cigarette Prices Cause Vaping Boom
The move by the FDA to adopt new strategies, such as raising tobacco cigarette prices and limiting nicotine levels, may have some support from what is happening in New Zealand after the excise duty on tobacco cigarettes was raised. Nicotine-containing e-liquids are illegal in that country. Consequently, the hike in cigarette prices caused more interest in nicotine-free e-cigarettes. Leading supermarkets have even added e-cigs to their shelves to meet this growing demand. US regulators can learn from these developments and go ahead with their plans to discourage people from smoking. The switch to vaping could have positive outcomes that exceed the projections of the regulators.
Authorities Need to Disseminate More Electronic Cigarette Information
Electronic cigarettes are relatively new on the market. Consequently, many people are still uncertain about whether these devices are helpful or not. Most information on the subject has largely been from the marketing efforts (online and offline) of those who manufacture or sell e-cigs. The lack of regulations governing the marketing of these products has left consumers to rely on any information availed by the suppliers/manufacturers of e-cigarettes. Some of that information may be incomplete or inaccurate, but the consumer has no way of telling the difference. A recent study has highlighted the need for authorities to come up with regulatory guidelines on the marketing of e-cigs so that public misinformation can be avoided. The researchers also recommend that governments take a more active role in educating consumers so that they can make informed choices about electronic cigarettes.
Issue #4
Issue #4 – Happy New Year! We’re in our 4th issue and we found a few older articles out there that talk about some studies which point to vaping be a way for smokers to quit. If you have a decent article that would like to share with our readers, please use our new Submission Page.
Vaping Is Beneficial to Respiratory Disease Sufferers
Published: 2017-11-20
In the past, general statements have been made about how using electronic cigarettes could be beneficial to people who smoke combustible cigarettes. Details are now emerging about how specific groups of smokers can benefit from e-cigs. One such group is the people with chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD) and those with asthma. Speaking at Massey University in New Zealand, Professor Polosa revealed that his research has established that sufferers of those two conditions have had the adverse effects of smoking gradually reversed. He therefore finds it unacceptable that some health authorities still maintain a hostile stance towards electronic cigarettes. As more information filters in about vaping, it is becoming increasingly clear that nearly every smoker can have his or her health improve by switching to e-cigarettes.
Swapping Electronic Cigarettes for Tobacco Cigarettes Can Save Millions
Published: 2017-10-02
Tobacco control groups have for long suggested that effective strategies should be found to end tobacco use once and for all. However, it has been hard to agree on a single strategy that can deliver the desired outcomes quickly. Scientists have now developed a model that projects what would happen in case smokers switched to vaping over a 10-year duration. Dont rush to dismiss their findings as mere guesswork. The study or model used statistics from numerous government departments in the US regarding the rates at which people take up smoking, the quit rates, the rates of those who never quit smoking and those whose life ends due to smoking-related conditions.The outcomes paint a detailed picture of how much harm or death would be prevented if the optimistic projection is real, and what would happen if the worse-case scenario occurs regarding switching to vaping. Both scenarios show that millions of lives would still be saved and people would have a better quality of life when you consider the public health implications of switching to vaping (fewer hospitalizations due to secondhand smoke, for example). The study is worth reading if you are concerned about the policy direction that e-cig and tobacco regulation is taking.
Study Confirms Vaping Can Help Smokers Quit
Published: 2013-11-22
The debate on whether electronic cigarettes can help someone to stop smoking tobacco cigarettes is often polarized between those who are strongly in favor and those against that claim. Rational observers are often left undecided because none of the parties to the argument presents any convincing scientific proof. A study published by Dr. Christopher Bullen and others has provided some scientific proof that can now put this debate in perspective. The aim of the study was to establish whether e-cigs do a better job of assisting smokers to quit when compared to the use of nicotine patches. The study that was conducted in Auckland, New Zealand found that there was no difference in the success rates (measured by abstinence from smoking) between those who used e-cigarettes and those who used nicotine patches in an attempt to quit smoking. This research therefore provides verifiable proof that vaping can help individuals to quit smoking.
Secondhand Vaping Could Be Harmful
Published: 2017-06-01
How safe are the individuals who are close to someone who is vaping? This question goes straight to the heart of the debate regarding the extent to which vaping is safer than smoking combustible cigarettes. Research has shown that the vapor that escapes into the atmosphere while someone is using an electronic cigarette doesnt contain any combustion toxicants. However, the study found that people who were near the person vaping were exposed to some nicotine in the vapor. This is particularly noticeable indoors. The implication of these findings is that vulnerable people, such as the elderly and young children, need to be protected from this secondhand exposure to nicotine. Vapers should therefore take precautions when they are vaping indoors. Additional research also needs to be conducted about the possible impacts of that secondhand exposure to nicotine.
Scrutinize Your Electronic Liquid Concentration Carefully
Published: 2015-02-01
Consumers of products, including e-liquid, tend to trust the labels that they see on the products that they buy. However, a study published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research by Barbara Davis and others in 2015 shows that many of the labels indicating the concentration of nicotine in electronic liquids are inaccurate. As high as 46 products out of the 50 products sampled were found to have higher levels of nicotine when compared to the claim on the label. This study serves as an eye-opener to all vapers to be very careful when they are buying their e-liquid. Buying from reputable suppliers can go a long way in ensuring that you are buying the nicotine concentrations that you wish to consume. Going an extra mile to find out what quality assurance processes are followed by the manufacturers of the e-fluid that you consume can help to weed out suppliers who may give misleading information about their products..
English Stop Smoking Services Friendlier to Electronic Cigarettes
Published: 2016-02-15
While the debate is still raging in many jurisdictions about the appropriateness of e-cigarette use as a stop-smoking device, the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training in the UK produced a briefing for stop smoking services. That briefing outlines several things that service providers need to do in order to support any individual who wishes to use electronic cigarettes as a way to cut back or stop smoking tobacco cigarettes. For example, the practitioners at those centers are advised to refrain from trying to push their clients to quit vaping as well in the shortest time possible. The practitioners are also cautioned to speak positively about e-cigs so that their clients dont get the impression that it is bad to vape. Such guidelines are helpful because they increase the options that are available to people who hadnt registered any success with the other smoke cessation products that are available, such as NRT. The briefing also provides a middle ground between those who believe that e-cigarettes can help someone to stop smoking and those who arent convinced as yet.