WHO Relies on Lies
The American Vaping Association warns that it’s “another day, another embarrassment” as the World Health Organization cites a retracted Stanton Glantz anti-vaping study
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by Dave Cross
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AVA has been going since early-2014 and has become one of America’s most vocal organisations in opposing ridiculous regulation across the nation. It says: “The AVA has not been shy to identify and criticise those trying to destroy the growing vaping industry, whether they be governmental agencies or health activist groups.”
In its downloadable document, the WHO lies and delivers half-truths:
- “The aerosol contains ultrafine particles and toxic substances similar to those found in tobacco smoke”
- “They contain the highly addictive substance nicotine”
- “Exposure to nicotine and toxic substances not only puts users at risk of health complications, but also endangers by- standers through inhalation of second-hand emissions
- “ENDS are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The toxic substances contained in these products can lead to impaired endothelial function, narrowing of arteries, increased heart rate and raised blood pressure”
- “The aerosols produced by ENDS contain toxic chemicals harmful to both users and non-users”
- “In combination with smoking, which is the common practice among the majority of ENDS users, the adverse health effects of two or more products are combined”
- “There is an urgent need for scientifically robust research to determine the long-term health effects of both direct and second-hand exposure to emissions of these products”
Many researchers and advocates have pointed out that the concept of ultrafine particles is a ridiculous when applied to tobacco harm reduction, a complete red herring. Many vapers have shown in studies that nicotine isn’t as addictive when separated from smoking – as the WHO should know as people don’t complain about addiction to patches and inhalers.
“Second-hand vape”, toxins, claims that most vapers dual fuel have all been debunked over and over but, as the AVA says, the WHO is on a “quest to mislead health practitioners and policymakers”.
It is seeking robust science? Why? It is ignoring all of the robust science already produced, preferring to stick with charlatans, liars, and frauds.
“Earlier this year, a controversial study co-authored by now-retired UCSF Professor Stanton Glantz linking vaping to heart attacks was retracted by the Journal of the American Heart Association,” says the AVA. “As it turned out, a second analysis of the data revealed that many of the heart attacks actually occurred before the vapers ever began using e-cigarettes.”
The organisation says the retraction, “jumpstarted a movement within the tobacco research community to urge the retraction of other faulty papers that had slipped through the cracks of peer review. However, it appears this news did not reach the inboxes of bureaucrats at the WHO.”
But there’s more.
“The WHO also cites a second, as-of-yet not retracted paper, on which Glantz was also a co-author. In short, the paper suffers from many of the same flaws as the retracted paper, chief among them that it is absurd to even begin to blame vaping for heart attacks that happened before a patient ever started vaping.
“Considering the WHO believes it is proper for countries to prohibit the sale of vaping products while leaving combustible cigarettes freely available, no one should be surprised by their willingness to use dodgy and outright fraudulent claims to mislead the public.”
It is long past time that the World Health Organization stops its ideological opposition to tobacco harm reduction and ceases to promote fake science.
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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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