They almost cried “but we didn’t ban ecigs” in a twitter status. But what they are doing is in some ways more harmful than a ban in my opinion. The curbit campaign is telling both smokers and vapers to stand at the kerb to vape or smoke. They have put together a campaign of lies about e-cigs to demonize vapour products. This is trying to encourage vapers to switch back to lethal cigarettes and discourage smokers from switching to far less hazardous vaping. It will also expose smokers and vapers to toxic exhaust emissions.

“We know e-cigarettes are harmful, just like cigarettes”

• Smoking caused 100 million deaths in the 20th century. Probably – the data are questionable. But we can call that a ball park figure.
• There is no evidence e-cigs, used as intended, have ever caused any disease in any human.
• Existing evidence indicates e-cigs are 99% (+/-1%) less hazardous than cigarettes.
• E-cigs have helped more than a million smokers quit and several million others sharply reduce their cigarette consumption.

The facts say? Untrue.

“Flavoured e-cigarettes hook teens on nicotine”

• There is no evidence that any non-smoker has become a daily nicotine vaper.
• The vast majority of teen vapers are smokers or ex-smokers who switched to vaping.
• Nicotine-free e-cigs are used by most non-smokers who experiment with vaping.

The facts say? Untrue.

“This year, 263,000 teens have used e-cigarettes but have never smoked”

• The study referenced found that  “ever smoker” teens were 22 and 23 times more likely than “never smoker” teens to report “ever use” and “past-30-day-use” of an ecig.
• They found 0.9% of “never smoker” teens reported “ever use” of an ecig.
• CDC’s press release headline falsely reported “ever use” as “used e-cigarettes in 2013”.
• Nicotine-free e-cigs are used by most non-smokers who experiment with vaping.

The facts say? Untrue.

“E-cigarettes . . . contain tobacco related carcinogens, toxic chemicals, and heavy metals” and “toxic & cancer-causing metals & chemicals”

• E-cigs contain similar trace levels of carcinogens as nicotine gums and patches.
• Only non-toxic trace levels of so-called toxic chemicals and heavy metals have been found in ecig liquid and aerosol.
• There is no evidence that metals or chemicals in ecigs have caused any human cancer.
• A cup of coffee emits more carcinogens, toxic chemicals & heavy metals than an ecig.

The facts say? Untrue.

“E-cigarettes also contain highly addictive nicotine”

• There is no evidence that nicotine is as addictive as tobacco when it is not administered alongside the minor alkaloids in tobacco.
• There is no evidence that any non-smoker has ever become a daily nicotine vaper.
• Many vapour products are nicotine-free.
• Vapers have lower plasma cotinine levels than smokers.
• Most vapers reduce their nicotine consumption over time.
• Many smokers who switched to vaping quit vaping nicotine, and many quit vaping.
• By your logic smokers are already addicted to nicotine, so what if we keep using it. Vaping nicotine stops us from relapsing to smoking.
• The health benefits of continued use preventing relapse to smoking make all of your anti-nicotine arguments irrelevant to ex-smoking vapers.

The facts say? Untrue.

“E-cigarettes . . . . are heavily marketed to youth using sweet flavors”

• There is no evidence that nicotine e-cigs have ever been marketed to youth.
• The fact that flavours exist is not evidence that nicotine e-cigs have been marketed to youth.
• Adult cigarette smokers and ex-smokers consume >99% of nicotine e-cigs.
• CA and SF laws already ban sales of nicotine e-cigs to minors.

The facts say? Untrue.

“E-cigarettes emit a pollution cloud that contains hazardous materials, presenting a potential danger to the public” and “second-hand harm to others”

• There is no evidence that e-cigarette aerosol poses any harm or risk to the public.
• Constituents in ecig aerosol are below levels emitted indoors by exhaling smokers, smoker’s clothing and hair, cooking, carpeting, printers, cleaning products, dry cleaned clothes, hair sprays, perfume, nail polish, a cup of coffee, and even air fresheners.
• Constituents in ecig aerosol are well below OSHA standards, and exponentially lower than those in second-hand smoke.

The facts say? Untrue.

“#EcigAreCigs”

• E-cigarettes (aka vapour products) are NOT cigarettes. They contain no tobacco.

The facts say? Untrue.

“E-cigarettes are just the latest gimmick from #BigTobacco to hook a new generation on their products”

• Vapour products were marketed to smokers for nearly a decade before any tobacco company began marketing cigalike e-cigs.
• More than 99% of ecig companies and >99% of ecig products compete against cigarette companies for smokers.
• Ecigs have replaced more than 3 billion packs of cigarettes worldwide since 2008.
• There is no evidence that nicotine e-cigs create daily dependence in non-smokers.

The facts say? Untrue.

“The majority of e-cigarette brands are owned by tobacco companies”

• Tobacco companies own <1% of e-cigarette brands now on the market.

The facts say? Untrue.

“San Francisco isn’t fooled by e-cigarettes, Big Tobacco”

• The SF DPH has been deceiving the public about e-cigs since the FDA unlawfully banned and lied about the products in 2009.
• SF DPH is protecting Big Tobacco’s cigarettes from competition by lifesaving e-cigs.

The facts say? More fool SF.

Originally Published by Beki Jane 7th January 2015
Reproduced with kind permission
Original Article: https://bekivapes.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/san-francisco-dept-of-public-health-says-sf-didnt-ban-ecigs/