Vapers Digest 7th Feb

 

Tuesday’s News at a glance:

Daily Mail Retraction – E-cigarettes ARE safer than tobacco, study confirms – E-cigarettes safer than smoking says long-term study – Senate Co-Sponsorship Memo – Nicotine, Carcinogen, and Toxin Exposure – Studies clearing smoke around e-cigarettes – EU: Commissionner Andriukaitis knocks at open doors, again – Debunking the ‘experts’ on vaping – The Rest of the Story: One Way Bridge – NSP Daily Digest

Daily Mail Retraction

Daily Mail

A Health article on January 27 said some experts believe electronic cigarettes can be more harmful than real ones. In  fact we are not aware of any experts who hold this view compared to the risks of cancer, heart disease and lung damage from real cigarettes. We apologise for any contrary suggestion.

E-cigarettes ARE safer than tobacco, study confirms

Mia De Graff, Daily Mail

E-cigarettes are far less harmful than tobacco products, a study appears to confirm.

While vaporizers are touted as ‘safe’, health experts warn we still don’t have enough evidence to say that for certain.

But a new set of experiments performed in the UK have shown lung tissue is barely affected at all by e-cigarettes – compared to the crippling affect cigarette smoke has one our organs.

Lungs exposed to tobacco suffered changes in 123 genes – mutating cells in a way that creates fertile ground for heart disease, inflammation, and even tumor growth.

Meanwhile just two genes were affected in lungs exposed to e-cigarette vapor.

E-cigarettes safer than smoking says long-term study

Cancer Research UK

E-cigarettes are less toxic and safer to use compared to conventional cigarettes, according to research (link is external)* published in Annals of Internal Medicine today (Monday).

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists found that people who swapped smoking regular cigarettes for e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for at least six months, had much lower levels of toxic and cancer causing substances in their body than people who continued to use conventional cigarettes.

For the first time, researchers analysed the saliva and urine of long-term e-cigarette and NRT users, as well as smokers, and compared body-level exposure to key chemicals.

See also: Carl Alexander (CRUK) , New Scientist , EurekAlert

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Senater Co-Sponsorship Memo

Senate of Pennsylvania

In our effort to enact a balanced budget for FY 2016-17, the General Assembly approved a 40 percent wholesale tax on e-cigarettes (also known as vapor products). Unfortunately, this tax has had a devastating impact on the vapor products’ industry and many hard-working Pennsylvanians. To date, over 100 small-business, bricks and mortar vapor shops have closed their doors and many more will likely follow suit. Consequently, several hundred individuals have lost good-paying jobs, and the consumers of these products have seen prices increase and availability decline.

Nicotine, Carcinogen, and Toxin Exposure

Annals of Internal Medicine

Objective: To compare exposure to nicotine, tobacco-related carcinogens, and toxins among smokers of combustible cigarettes only, former smokers with long-term e-cigarette use only, former smokers with long-term nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) use only, long-term dual users of both combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and long-term users of both combustible cigarettes and NRT.

Studies clearing smoke around e-cigarettes

Vancouver Sun

Two years ago we wrote about Ryan, a 35 year-old nursing student who was trying to kick a cigarette habit by smoking e-cigarettes. Ryan was ordering his vaping supplies online, as sales were prohibited in Canada and retail outlets were uncommon. While Health Canada hasn’t officially altered their stance in the interim, vape shops have proliferated and Canadians are using electronic nicotine delivery systems more than ever.

At the time, there were still many unknowns. The jury was still out regarding whether e-cigarettes helped people quit smoking traditional cigarettes, and there were questions about the safety and standardization of the product. But in the last two years, several research studies have helped clear the smoke of uncertainty, and experts now believe e-cigarettes to be 95 per cent safer than their combustible cousins. Despite the growing clarity, Health Canada’s 2009 edict that people should avoid e-cigarettes still officially stands.

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A Billion Lives – Demand Film

Coming to a Cinema near You – Reserve your tickets Now!

Host a screening

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EU: Commissionner Andriukaitis knocks at open doors, again

Jérôme Harlay, VapingPost

The EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis repeated, in response to the publication of a report describing the growth of the e-cigarette market in Europe, his personal opinion against e-cigarettes. This time, children were the excuse in spite of a societal context in contradiction with any type of gateway.

Euractiv, the online media of European news, informs that Vytenis Andriukaitis, the EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, declared he opposed “e-cigarettes being advertised as another ‘cool’ thing”.

See also Euractiv

Debunking the ‘experts’ on vaping

Damon Jacobs, R-Street

A recent article on the millennial-focused website Mic.com deigned to summarize “what the experts say” about the long-term effects of vaping, which certainly is an important topic. Alas, the piece by author Aric Suber-Jenkins was hardly objective or unbiased. In fact, it’s wrong in nearly every major assertion it makes and every bit of analysis if offers.

Rather than feature diverse perspectives from a variety of experts, the piece focuses almost entirely on the views of one person: Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco. To be sure, Glantz is a respected researcher and his perspective deserves a hearing. He’s also wrong on a lot of things. Four major myths he and the Mic piece present very much need to be debunked:

The Rest of the Story: One Way Bridge

Michael Siegel, TobaccoAnalysis

At first glance, this paper appears to demolish the claim that vaping is not a known gateway to youth smoking. The conclusion that is drawn is a sweeping one: e-cigarettes are a one-way bridge to cigarette smoking among youth. If this conclusion is true, then I believe e-cigarettes are not a tenable harm reduction strategy because the benefits of adults quitting using e-cigarettes would be offset by a substantial increase in youth becoming addicted to smoking and possibly suffering life-long health effects, disease, disability, and premature death.

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Call to Action

Changing how YOUR Council sees vaping

Vapers in Power

There is only one council in the entire country with a decent attitude towards vaping.

Thanks to the work of Freedom to Vape we now know that the vast majority of councils lump vaping in with smoking, against the advice of both Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive.

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Visit Nicotine Science & Policy for more News from around the World

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#CelebrateTheVape