I posted. It went right up. I couldn't figure out how to make a new comment, so i ended up posting the following as a response to someone else's post. (thanks to the person who's post i stepped on and to the person who posted the links to other research). hope that people who read the now buried article read through the comments.
"There are essentially two ways to quit smoking. The first is to go cold turkey, 6, 8 or even 10 times until it works. The second is to replace the nicotine, giving the individual the opportunity to work through the behavioral aspects of quitting, and eliminating exposure to the other chemicals in cigarettes, including monamine oxidase inhibitors. All FDA approved smoking cessation products provide nicotine. The patch, gum, inhaler etc., all provide nicotine directly (and have trace amount of TSNAs). Chantix partially activates the receptors that nicotine binds to, fooling the body into thinking that there is nicotine on board. Quit rates are low, people still try numerous times and those who succeed continue to use them for long periods of time (months to years in some cases). Chantix has additional side effects, including reports of suicidality. E-cigs provide nicotine, but aren’t marketed as a smoking cessation device. Yet, anecdotal evidence suggests that a majority of people who use personal vaporizers/e-ciggs have moved to using them exclusively. In effect they quit smoking. Nicotine continues to be delivered, just as with approved NRTs. Since this study reported here hasn’t yet been published, I have no way of evaluating the methodology, but I suspect there are problems with it. I also question reporting the results from an unpublished study as if it has been peer reviewed. There are other preliminary studies available (posted in an earlier comment) suggesting that nicotine is indeed delivered by personal vaporizers , that the number of harmful chemicals is reduced as compared to smoking, and consistent with the levels found in traditional NRTs. What is the fear about? A choice between continuing to burn carcinogenic substances or really allowing people the opportunity to choose."