positive NYT editorial 12-6-13

[CES]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/07/opinion/two-cheers-for-e-cigarettes.html?hp&rref=opinion

You’d think that the public health community would be cheering at the introduction of electronic cigarettes. We all know how hard it is to quit smoking. We also know that nicotine replacement therapies, like the patch, haven’t worked especially well. The electronic cigarette is the first harm-reduction product to gain serious traction among American smokers.

Yet the public health community is not cheering. Far from it: groups like the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the Campaign for tobacco-Free Kids are united in their opposition to e-cigarettes. They want to see them stigmatized — like tobacco cigarettes. They want to see them regulated like cigarettes, too, which essentially means limited marketing and a ban on their use wherever tobacco cigarettes are banned.

nicely done, with the exception of the recommendation to regulate e-cigs as "a pharmaceutical product that delivers nicotine"

 

[tommy2bad]

The comments show how polarised public opinion is. And how ideologically driven the anti smoking movement has become, remarks like " but let's keep the mental weaklings in society from blowing vape in my face 24/7, capiche?" and the stance against any form of nicotine use is pure ideology without any support from evidence. Opinion and uninformed opinion is behind most opposition. This is getting a lot like religion and the discussions around it!
Perhaps health is the new religion, dose that make religion the new sex? Acceptable between consenting adults in the privacy of their own homes and clubs but not to be discussed or practiced in public.
I guess every generation has something they use to judge others with, people seem to need this sense of superiority.

 

[Uma]

Totally agree with you CES, thanks for posting this awesome article! (Awesome minus the pharmaceutical ref)

 

[Linden]

*CHEERS!!!!* woot woot!

....except for (no surprise) there is a strategically placed "Explore Nicoderm CQ Today!" ad at the bottom.

 

[rothenbj]

It looked like the comment section was very favorable to e cigs for the most part.

 

[XJ-linux]

NO to e-cigs! But YES to meds like Chanix, the pill that makes some folks suicidal and/or aggressive. But hey, with someone on a pill, no one has to learn the difference between vapor -vs- particulate solids in the air. "Quit smoking... on MY terms." Brother... Good to see some positive press for a change.

 

[Spazmelda]

I'm sad they closed the comments. I responded to quite a few, but I wish I could respond to some of the ones that were added later. People who advocate banning things just because they are addictive need to think a little longer about that idea and consider some of the other things that could/would fall in that category.

 

[Vocalek]

Here is a very interesting comment:

Helen Redmond
Chicago

I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor. There is an astonishingly high rate of tobacco use among people with a mental illness. Over 90 percent of schizophrenics smoke. The reason is simple: nicotine reduces levels of anxiety, depression, as well as boosting concentration and focus. It counteracts some of the bothersome side effects of psychotropic medications. It gives people energy. These are amazing benefits that are delivered within seconds by simply inhaling. E-cigarettes, like regular cigarettes, are a nicotine delivery device BUT minus all the harmful effects of tobacco.

The rituals around smoking are very powerful and e-cigs mimic them. People like inhalation and exhalation, hand to mouth tactile sensations, the throat hit. And what is wrong with that? Nothing.

For people with a mental illness nicotine is good medicine and the e-cig has the potential to save their lives. According to the NAMI, over 200,000 people with a mental illness die every year from smoking related diseases. E-cigs can reverse this trend. It's a matter of life and death.

Drug-free USA? Never. We need to focus on reducing the harms of drug use and stop stigmatizing those who are drug dependent. E-cigs clearly reduce harm and allow people to maintain a dependence on nicotine that will not kill them and will help them function.

 

[rothenbj]

Elaine, I liked that comment except, "E-cigarettes, like regular cigarettes, are a nicotine delivery device BUT minus all the harmful effects of tobacco." I know you don't want to use the same word too many times in a sentence, but the message would have been much clearer and accurate if she had exchanged the word tobacco with smoking. You actually lose some of the benefits of tobacco when you use nicotine alone and I dislike a loss of focus on the real issue, inhaling smoke.