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VAPING IS THE GATEWAY OUT OF SMOKING

VAPING IS THE GATEWAY OUT OF SMOKING

FEBRUARY 8, 2021
• PLANET OF VAPES
• BY CONSUMER CHOICE CENTER

The Parliament Magazine is issued on a fortnightly basis to inform and educate politicians with “with balanced, objective and informative coverage”. The latest issue carries an article by Consumer Choice Center’s Maria Chaplia and World Vapers’ Alliance’s Michael Landl saying that “Vaping is the gateway out of smoking”.

The World Vapers Alliance has been exceptionally active lately, from attacking the SCHEER Report [link] and demonstrating at the European Parliament [link] to organizing a spectacular protest in the Netherlands [link] .

The Consumer Choice Center says it, “is the consumer advocacy group supporting lifestyle freedom, innovation, privacy, science, and consumer choice. The main policy areas we focus on are digital, mobility, lifestyle & consumer goods, and health & science.”

The Parliament Magazine and its sister publications highlight, “innovation and best practice across key regional policy sectors, as well as providing up to date news and analysis of regional policy legislation and developments at EU, national and regional levels.”

In the latest edition Chaplia and Landl say: “The innovative nature of vaping has contributed to its success and allowed it to quickly gain popularity among smokers.”

They argue that despite the novel technology being targeted by opponents as a gateway into smoking the truth is the opposite, and the longer the EU continues to attack harm reduction, “the fewer smokers get a chance to switch to a safer and healthier alternative.”

“The newest Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) UK report states that “only 0.3 percent of never-smokers are current vapers (amounting to 2.9 percent of vapers)”. Therefore, a gateway effect to smoking is not reflected in the data and many studies show the opposite effect. For example, smoking rates in the UK – where public health authorities encourage vaping as a gateway out of smoking – are at an all-time low and there is no sign of vaping causing more smoking.”

They address the fact that countries which have embraced harm reduction, such as the UK, have seen accelerated declines in smoking rates, whereas countries like Australia have witnessed a deceleration to abject stalls.

“The correlation between the introduction and the popularity of vaping and declining smoking rates suggests that vaping is an important innovation to help people quit smoking. The 2018 US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Report found that the smoking rate has decreased overall more rapidly since vaping became more prominent in the United States.”

While politicians may read the text, will they listen to the message? It’s very clear: “Despite many voices seeking to undermine vaping as a gateway out of smoking, the evidence is sound: vaping saves lives.”

Originally published here .

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E-cigarettes around 95% less harmful than tobacco estimates landmark review

E-cigarettes around 95% less harmful than tobacco estimates landmark review

Expert independent review concludes that e-cigarettes have potential to help smokers quit.
From: Public Health England
Published:19 August 2015

An expert independent evidence review published today by Public Health England (PHE) concludes that e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful to health than tobacco and have the potential to help smokers quit smoking.

Key findings of the review include:
• the current best estimate is that e-cigarettes are around 95% less harmful than smoking
• nearly half the population (44.8%) don’t realise e-cigarettes are much less harmful than smoking
• there is no evidence so far that e-cigarettes are acting as a route into smoking for children or non-smokers
The review, commissioned by PHE and led by Professor Ann McNeill (King’s College London) and Professor Peter Hajek (Queen Mary University of London), suggests that e-cigarettes may be contributing to falling smoking rates among adults and young people. Following the review PHE has published a paper on the implications of the evidence for policy and practice.

The comprehensive review of the evidence finds that almost all of the 2.6 million adults using e-cigarettes in Great Britain are current or ex-smokers, most of whom are using the devices to help them quit smoking or to prevent them going back to cigarettes. It also provides reassurance that very few adults and young people who have never smoked are becoming regular e-cigarette users (less than 1% in each group).

However, the review raises concerns that increasing numbers of people think e-cigarettes are equally or more harmful than smoking (22.1% in 2015, up from 8.1% in 2013: ASH Smokefree GB survey) or don’t know (22.7% in 2015, ASH Smokefree GB survey).

Despite this trend all current evidence finds that e-cigarettes carry a fraction of the risk of smoking.

Emerging evidence suggests some of the highest successful quit rates are now seen among smokers who use an e-cigarette and also receive additional support from their local stop smoking services.

Professor Kevin Fenton, Director of Health and Wellbeing at Public Health England said:

Smoking remains England’s number one killer and the best thing a smoker can do is to quit completely, now and forever.

E-cigarettes are not completely risk free but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm. The problem is people increasingly think they are at least as harmful and this may be keeping millions of smokers from quitting. Local stop smoking services should look to support e-cigarette users in their journey to quitting completely.

Professor Ann McNeill, King’s College London and independent author of the review, said:

There is no evidence that e-cigarettes are undermining England’s falling smoking rates. Instead the evidence consistently finds that e-cigarettes are another tool for stopping smoking and in my view smokers should try vaping and vapers should stop smoking entirely.
E-cigarettes could be a game changer in public health in particular by reducing the enormous health inequalities caused by smoking.
Professor Peter Hajek, Queen Mary University London and independent author of the review said:

My reading of the evidence is that smokers who switch to vaping remove almost all the risks smoking poses to their health. Smokers differ in their needs and I would advise them not to give up on e-cigarettes if they do not like the first one they try. It may take some experimentation with different products and e-liquids to find the right one.

Professor Linda Bauld, Cancer Research UK’s expert in cancer prevention, said:

Fears that e-cigarettes have made smoking seem normal again or even led to people taking up tobacco smoking are not so far being realised based on the evidence assessed by this important independent review. In fact, the overall evidence points to e-cigarettes actually helping people to give up smoking tobacco.

Free Stop Smoking Services remain the most effective way for people to quit but we recognise the potential benefits for e-cigarettes in helping large numbers of people move away from tobacco.

Cancer Research UK is funding more research to deal with the unanswered questions around these products including the longer-term impact.

Lisa Surtees, acting director at Fresh Smoke Free North East, the first region where all local stop smoking services are actively promoted as e-cigarette friendly, said:

Despite making great strides to reduce smoking, tobacco is still our biggest killer. Our region has always kept an open mind towards using electronic cigarettes as we can see the massive potential health benefits from switching.

All of our local NHS Stop Smoking Services now proactively welcome anyone who wants to use these devices as part of their quit attempt and increase their chance of success.

Background
PHE’s remit letter for 2014 to 2015 requested an update of the evidence around e-cigarettes. PHE commissioned Professors Ann McNeill and Peter Hajek to review the available evidence. The review builds on previous evidence summaries published by PHE in 2014.

The full list of authors of the report are:

• McNeill A, Brose LS, Calder R, Hitchman SC: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, National Addiction Centre, King’s College London and UK Centre for Tobacco & Alcohol Studies
• Hajek P, McRobbie H (Chapters 9 and 10): Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Queen Mary, University of London and UK Centre for Tobacco & Alcohol Studies

Implications of the evidence for policy and practice: Based on the findings of the evidence review PHE advises that:

• e-cigarettes have the potential to help smokers quit smoking, and the evidence indicates they carry a fraction of the risk of smoking cigarettes but are not risk free
• e-cigarettes potentially offer a wide reach, low-cost intervention to reduce smoking in more deprived groups in society where smoking is elevated, and we want to see this potential fully realised
• there is an opportunity for e-cigarettes to help tackle the high smoking rates among people with mental health problems, particularly in the context of creating smokefree mental health units
• the potential of e-cigarettes to help improve public health depends on the extent to which they can act as a route out of smoking for the country’s eight million tobacco users, without providing a route into smoking for children and non-smokers. Appropriate and proportionate regulation is essential if this goal is to be achieved
• local stop smoking services provide smokers with the best chance of quitting successfully and we want to see them engaging actively with smokers who want to quit with the help of e-cigarettes
• we want to see all health and social care professionals providing accurate advice on the relative risks of smoking and e-cigarette use, and providing effective referral routes into stop smoking services
• the best thing smokers can do for their health is to quit smoking completely and to quit for good. PHE is committed to ensure that smokers have a range of evidence-based, effective tools to help them to quit. We encourage smokers who want to use e-cigarettes as an aid to quit smoking to seek the support of local stop smoking services
• given the potential benefits as quitting aids, PHE looks forward to the arrival on the market of a choice of medicinally regulated products that can be made available to smokers by the NHS on prescription. This will provide assurance on the safety, quality and effectiveness to consumers who want to use these products as quitting aids
• the latest evidence will be considered in the development of the next Tobacco Control Plan for England with a view to maximising the potential of e-cigarettes as a route out of smoking and minimising the risk of their acting as a route into smoking

From October this year it will be an offence to sell e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18 or to buy e-cigarettes for them. The government is consulting on a comprehensive array of regulations under the European Tobacco Products Directive.

Public Health England press office.

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Vapers to Celebrate World Vape Day on May 30

Vapers to Celebrate World Vape Day on May 30

By News Voir Press Release

Millions of e-cigarette users or vapers across the globe are celebrating World Vape Day on May 30, a day before World No Tobacco Day. World Vape Day aims to raise awareness on e-cigarettes or vapes and encourage smokers who are unable to quit on their own or with currently available smoking cessation tools to switch to safer nicotine products.

Vapers To celebrate world vape day
World Vape Day

“Safer nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, are the most disruptive influence on smoking in decades. These are the innovations that have the potential to save millions of lives in the Asia Pacific region as well as globally,” said Nancy Loucas, Executive Director of the Coalition of Asia-Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA), one of the lead organizers of World Vape Day 2020. “These products have disrupted the standard of harm reduction in tobacco by giving the power back to the smokers to choose the option that works for them and allows them to have agency over their own and their loved one’s health and wellbeing. “
Vaping can reduce smoking-related sickness, deaths.
The number of vapers globally has been increasing rapidly from about seven million in 2011 to 41 million in 2018, according to Euromonitor International. The market research group estimates that the number of adult vapers worldwide will reach almost 55 million by 2021. In its 2018 independent evidence review, Public Health England (PHE) concluded that “e-cigarettes are around 95% safer than combustible cigarettes.” Published in March 2020, the agency’s latest report stated that, “Despite reductions in smoking prevalence, smoking remains the biggest single cause of preventable death and disease and a leading cause of health inequalities. So, alternative nicotine delivery devices that are less harmful could play a crucial role in reducing this health burden.”
The harms associated with secondhand smoke from combustible cigarettes have been clearly established, but these do not apply to e-cigarettes and “secondhand vapor “, according to Peter Paul Dator, president of The Vapers Philippines. “Unlike tobacco cigarettes, e-cigarettes do not burn organic matter at very high temperatures and therefore do not produce toxic fumes. The main components of the liquid used in e-cigarettes are propylene glycol and glycerin, accounting for 95% of the e-liquid. The remaining components are water, nicotine, and flavorings.” Dator cited a study done by the California Department of Public Health that showed that emissions from e-cigarettes utilizing flavored nicotine e-liquid are no different from the air that we breathe walking down the street.
The use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATOD) is a common cause of many preventable deaths and diseases in Australia, according to Stephanie Thuesen, Director of Stakeholder Engagement at The Progressive Public Health Alliance. “Creating policy based on a harm reduction model will benefit the ATOD and mental health sectors exponentially. Therefore, we have recommended to the Australian government to legalize and regulate reduced-harm products in ATOD such as vaping and snus and invest in harm reduction measures, outreach services and rehabilitation centers.”

Saving young smokers
Every day, 80,000 to 100,000 young people around the world become addicted to tobacco, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). If current trends continue, the WHO predicts that 250 million children and young people alive today will die from tobacco-related diseases.
“The right to harm reduction should extend to all users who currently use combustible tobacco, including youth who currently smoke. Nicotine dependence in youth develops rapidly and over 50% of those youth who smoke daily are already nicotine dependent,” said Asa Ace Saligupta who runs the ENDS Cigarette Smoke Thailand consumer group. Saligupta notes that young people are allowed access to medicalized Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), in some countries from the age of 12. “Not allowing the youth access to vaping is questionable. We believe that young people, under the age of 16 or 18, depending upon jurisdictional law, should have access to e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool with parental permission.”
Concerns that vaping may appeal to youth or may serve as a ‘gateway‘to smoking are inconsistent with the evidence, according to Jagannath Sarangapani, Director of the Association of Vapers India (AVI). “E-cigarettes have been gateways out of smoking for millions and have been accompanied by declining youth smoking rates. Instead of banning them, governments should regulate e-cigarettes to maximize the benefits of low-risk alternatives while minimizing the likelihood they will be used by youth or non-smokers. Bans serve only to protect the cigarette industry. “

About CAPHRA
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) is an alliance of consumer organizations from Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand that aims to educate, advocate and represent the right of adult alternative nicotine consumers to access and use of products that reduce harm from tobacco use.

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