In the News 28th August

Fridays News at a glance:

Their Favourite Trick – Making mountains from molehills – On e-cigarette safety The Lancet has decided to shoot the messenger – Lancet editorial on PHE vaping report exposes malpractice – at The Lancet – ASH comment on Lancet editorial on e-cigarettes – Lancet editorial asks if e-cigarettes are a “smokescreen.” – Ecig efficacy? Who cares? – E-cigarettes not a path to smoking – Vaping – determining the “95% less harmful” figure -What is the only argument for criticizing Public Health England Report on e-cigarettes? Funding of 1 of the 185 cited studies – Vapers in Power Call to Action – Nicotine Science and Policy – Daily Digest

Their Favourite Trick

Dick Puddlecote

In their desperation to defame e-cigs, it seems the dinosaur section of the tobacco control industry has stopped scraping the barrel and is now crawling underneath it with the cockroaches instead….

Making mountains from molehills

Facts Do Matter

It must surely come as no surprise at all that there has finally been a response to the Public Health England 2015 review on e-cigarettes from the hard-core anti-vaping opponents. So I wasn’t particularly surprised when the excrement hit the whirling blades of the media, no sir….

On e-cigarette safety The Lancet has decided to shoot the messenger

Christopher Snowdon – The Spectator

So  the pushback begins. An anonymous editorial in The Lancet today wields the hatchet at the recent Public Health England report which said that e-cigarettes are ‘around 95 per cent safer than smoking’. The Lancet has never been keen on e-cigarettes and it doesn’t like the 95 per cent figure, but rather than come up with a better one, it has chosen to shoot the messenger….

Lancet editorial on PHE vaping report exposes malpractice – at The Lancet

Fergus Mason:

Predictably enough, anti-vaping extremists have hit back against the recent PHE report on electronic cigarettes. That’s no surprise. What is slightly breathtaking is the sheer dishonesty and viciousness of their assault….

Ecig efficacy? Who cares?

The Happy Vaper

When Public Health England’s (PHE) review on electronic cigarettes ‘E-cigarettes: an evidence update‘ (19th August 2015) was published proclaiming that “E-cigarettes are 95% less harmful to your health than normal cigarettes”, there was a predictable flurry of activity in the UK and world media. Although the report did not recommend the prescription of of ecigs on the NHS as the gutter press sensationalised, it did however encourage doctors and public health bodies to embrace and god forbid, recommend ecigs to smokers wishing to quit smoking tobacco cigarettes. Still great news for advocates of vaping such as yours truly….

Vaping – determining the “95% less harmful” figure

Prof Larry Phillips of the LSE describes how the “95% less harmful” figure was determined.

ASH comment on Lancet editorial on e-cigarettes

ASH was saddened to see the Lancet editorial today attacking Public Health England (PHE) for having ‘fallen short of its mission’.

To criticise Public Health England for quoting an estimate, contained in the expert review it commissioned, that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than tobacco on the basis that the methodology behind the estimate was weak is to miss the point….

Lancet editorial asks if e-cigarettes are a “smokescreen.”

American Council on Smoking & Health

We are pretty sure that the author is the journal’s long-time editor-in-chief, Richard Horton. Long before he decided to take an axe to the concept of saving smokers from lingering disease and death by ranting against e-cigarettes, his main claim to fame was his decision, in 1998, to publish the fraudulent, destructive article by ex-doctor Andrew Wakefield, which purported to show a link between MMR vaccine and neurological damage related to autism…..

What is the only argument for criticizing Public Health England Report on e-cigarettes?

Funding of 1 of the 185 cited studies – Dr Farsalinos

The well-known medical journal “The Lancet” released today an editorial criticizing the Public Health England (PHE) report on e-cigarettes. The editorial is titled: “E-cigarettes: Public Health England’s evidence-based confusion”. One would expect to read scientifically-substantiated arguments against the Public Health England report, challenging the authors’ conclusion and providing a different perspective. Instead, the editorial is a personal attack on Riccardo Polosa….

Vapers in Power Call to Action

3 things you can do this week to help keep vaping free.

1. Sign this brilliant petition challenging the government to reassess the introduction of the TPD article 20 in light of the recent report on vaping by the PHE https://www.change.org/p/uk-department-of-health-jane-ellison-uk-government-should-refuse-to-implement-article-20-of-the-tpd-in-light-of-phe-report?

2. Industry led regulation is one way of ensuring that vaping continues to meet the needs of the community. BSI PAS 54115 is now available and it is specific to e cigs and e-liquids http://shop.bsigroup.com/ProductDetail/?pid=000000000030303130 The best thing about this BSI PAS is that it is VOLUNTARY. Suggest this PAS to your local vendors and if they aren’t sure, ask them to watch this https://youtu.be/SNrzhZiDMks

3. Add your story to the growing worldwide collection. This week there are threads on forums, on facebook, on Twitter and on our blog asking for your vaping story. These will be added to an international database of vaping stories. Our stories are one of our most powerful weapons. Tell the world how you became a vaper. https://vapersinpower.wordpress.com/2015/08/27/whats-your-vaping-story/

E-cigarettes not a path to smoking

Jeff Stier – Washington

The basis for the paper’s concern that e-cigarettes cause teens to smoke cigarettes is entirely unfounded. In fact, the small survey the piece cites acknowledges that an association between teen experimentation with e-cigarette use and subsequent smoking is not causal. In fact, teens who are likely to try e-cigarettes are the very teens already at risk for trying smoking, accounting for any association….

Nicotine Science and Policy – Daily Digest