Scientists dispel anti-vaping myths
Doctor Brad Rodu produces a booklet to inform vape policy formation and debate.
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by Dave Cross
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In Vaping. E-cigarettes, and public policy towards alternatives to smoking, Rodu works with Lindsey Stroud and Matthew Glans to produce a booklet that should be digested by policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic. In it they call for those forming legislation to “be mindful of the extensive research that supports tobacco harm reduction and understand that bans, excessive regulations, or high taxes on e-cigarettes could encourage smokers to stay with more-harmful traditional cigarettes.”
The booklet covers the following areas:
Policy Prescriptions
Taxation
- Indoor and Outdoor Bans
- Prohibiting Purchases by Minors
- Regulating Flavors
Myths and Facts About E-Cigarettes
- There is an epidemic of e-cigarette poisoning of children
- E-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking
- E-cigarettes don't help smokers quit
- E-cigarettes aren't any less harmful than tobacco cigarettes
History of the Failed Anti-Smoking Campaign
Quit or Die as the Only Strategy
The Case for Tobacco Harm Reduction
Decades of Evidence for Tobacco Harm Reduction
E-Cigarettes as a Harm-Reduction Alternative
- What Are E-Cigarettes
- Extending FDA Regulations to E-Cigarettes
The American Council for Science and Health (of which Rodu serves on the health board of scientific advisors) welcomed the booklet’s release. The statement advocates embracing the vaping revolution: “We have always said, smoking is a pediatric disease so if we stop young people from uptake of cigarettes they won't become addicted to nicotine and get 200 toxic chemicals in smoke. Unlike nicotine gums and patches, vaping, colloquially called e-cigarettes, mimics many of the mechanisms of cigarette smoking, making them less psychologically stressful while easing people off of the nicotine that kept them smoking.”
Rodu’s team attack the four myths perpetuated by anti-vape campaigners:
Myth #1 – There is an epidemic of e- cigarette poisoning of children.
Myth #2 – E-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking.
Myth #3 – E-cigarettes don’t help smokers quit.
Myth #4 – E-cigarettes aren’t any less harmful than tobacco cigarettes.
The American Council for Science and Health (ACSH) join in attacking Myth #2 : “Gateway? How? The number of young people who were nicotine "naïve" and tried vaping and became smokers is insignificant. Yes, nicotine is addictive, so is caffeine, but like caffeine, in the token amounts found in products it isn't harmful.”
ACSH take Rodu’s points one stage further in highlighting the flaws behind the prohibitionist thinking of those opposed to vaping: “In a perfect world, young people wouldn't engage in lots of risky behavior, like alcohol, rock climbing and drinking Red Bull. But they do. Picking one is capricious, or maybe a sign that activists don't care about ending smoking, they are simply anti-corporate and looking for a new lawsuit. That's not how government policy should be determined.”
Photo Credit:
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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