In the News 1st April

Wednesdays News at a glance:

E-Cigarettes Poised to Save Medicaid Billions .. Dr George Rae – Transcript .. Planet of the vapes: inside one nicotine megafactory .. California State University Chemistry Professor: ‘No Scientific Reason to Restrict Vaping’ .. British Medical Association Misleads On E-Cigarettes .. Anti-smoking Assessment Tool .. Fontem Ventures rejects reports of teenage EVP take-up .. FDA chief exits as e-cig fight smolders .. E-Cigarette Opponent Uses Cross-Sectional Study to Conclude that E-Cigs are a Gateway to Smoking .. Nicotine Science and Policy – Daily Digest – Wed, 1 April 2015

E-Cigarettes Poised to Save Medicaid Billions

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) have only been around since 2006, yet their potential to dramatically reduce the damaging health impacts of traditional cigarettes has garnered significant attention and credibility. Numerous scientific studies show that e-cigs not only reduce the harm from smoking, but can also be a part of the successful path to smoking cessation.

British Medical Association Misleads On E-Cigarettes

Dr. George Rae, chairman of British Medical Association Northeast, made reckless comments about e-cigarettes in a March 31 BBC radio interview, available here.  I highlight Rae’s most egregious claims in the transcript provided by Clive Bates….

Dr George Rae – Transcript

Well I think one of the points about e-cigarettes is firstly, they’re not regulated and that’s the concern that I as a professional and most professionals have. But you’ve got to realise that there are chemicals within e-cigarettes, particularly a group of chemicals called nitrosamines, and nitrosamines actually can cause cancer.  They can be even more cancer forming than what you’re getting within cigarettes themselves.

Planet of the vapes: inside one nicotine megafactory

Two weeks ago, Nick Clegg came out. “I’m off the fags and on the vapes,” the deputy prime minister triumphantly announced. “I’ve got some hilariously termed multi-voltage thing. I haven’t smoked a cigarette in weeks.” Recommending the blueberry favoured “vape”, Clegg said he liked not being banished to the garden for his nicotine hit but admitted he had no real idea what he was smoking. “I’m not 100% sure what the effect on my health is of these new battery-powered things,” he said….

‘No Scientific Reason to Restrict Vaping’

After describing the differences between the dangers of smoking tobacco and the lackof dangers in regard to the vapor produced by an e-cig device, Nichols notes how those nearby someone who is vaping needn’t be concerned, even as the anti-smoking industry continues to offer deadly disinformation about e-cigs…..

Anti-smoking Assessment Tool

Abstract. The damage caused by smoking is well known. Smokers who quit smoking with the use of electronic
cigarettes are often met with suspicion; after all, the actions of “vaping” are similar to “smoking.” This is normal. However, left unchecked without the benefit of good science and research this suspicion can develop into a serious illness….

Fontem Ventures rejects reports of teenage EVP take-up

A number of experts such as Peter Hajek, Director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at Barts and the London School of Medicine have suggested that youngsters experimenting with EVPs is not a cause for concern where it replaces experimenting with tobacco products and that EVPs are not acting as a ‘gateway’ to smoking for either adults or children….

FDA chief exits as e-cig fight smolders

Hamburg is recognized for her efforts to rein in tobacco companies over the last six years, but observers of a battle that’s pitting a burgeoning industry against public health advocates say her legacy is still being shaped….

E-Cigarette Opponent Uses Cross-Sectional Study to Conclude that E-Cigs are a Gateway to Smoking

Clearly, except for Stan, one cannot discern from this study whether youth who try e-cigarettes then develop an intention to smoke or whether youth with a predisposition to smoking are more likely to experiment with e-cigarettes….

Nicotine Science and Policy – Daily Digest – Wed, 1 April 2015