After an initial healthy curiosity about electronic nicotine delivery devices around 2014, a nervous pall seems to have settled over the use of e-cigarettes and vaping. Strikingly, it is members of the public health establishment that have fanned the pessimism surrounding the battery-powered devices that deliver nicotine without the carcinogenic tar.
One leading culprit is the Centers for Disease Control which refuses to acknowledge the steep risk reduction for smokers who switch to non-combustible tobacco, overlooks evidence of immediate gains in respiratory health when e-cigarettes are used as an alternative tosmoking, and dramatizes as yet unrealized harm to children. Other alarmists include various states, California, in particular, some quarters of the press, anti-tobacco advocacy groups, and special interest groups such as the American Lung Association. Internationally, negative perceptions have emerged among health care professionals in Greece and among smokers in the UK as well.
These messages have all helped to undermine the public's confidence in the relative safety of electronic nicotine delivery over conventional combustion-based delivery.
Read Full Article »