Smokeless cigarette may bring smokers in from the cold

[jamie]

Daily Collegian - Smokeless cigarette may bring smokers in from the cold

Smokeless cigarette may bring smokers in from the cold
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Currently, fewer than 20 percent of Americans smoke cigarettes, the lowest numbers since the early 1900s.

As a result, companies such as Smoking Everywhere, Inc. are manufacturing a new type of cigarette known as the “electronic cigarette.”

University of Massachusetts Health Services tobacco treatment specialist Tom Schiff believes despite the lack of second-hand smoke emissions, tar and other carcinogens, the tobacco cigarette still has health risks.

“It’s complex, but yes, I do believe there are health risks,” said Schiff. “[Electronic cigarettes] are not being counted as a way to quit smoking, but rather as a way to continue smoking. As compared to other nicotine replacers like patches, gums, lozenges or prescription nicotine inhalers or nasal sprays which are to help people quit smoking, there is nothing I’ve seen that implies that electronic cigarettes are going to help people quit.”

“The tobacco industry has been trying to develop some sort of smokeless cigarette for a number of years,” said UMass public health expert, David Buchanan. “The basic idea is they want to develop a cigarette that can give some of the flavor and nicotine without including the smoke which contains tar and other chemicals that have health risks. It is something like a holy grail to save the tobacco industry if they can develop a ‘safe’ cigarette.

“The major lesson here is, and again, going back to early 60s, the tobacco industry came up with a low tar and low nicotine cigarette. Everyone said this was a big step. But smokers compensated for the low amounts of tar and nicotine, and they started inhaling deeper and smoking more. Then these cigarettes wound up being more hazardous for people,” said Buchanan.

 

[JeremyJames]

Just reading from your quotes it seems like a good article

 

[jamie]

Hmmm. I didn't think so. A few reasons...

Smoking Everywhere isn't a manufacturer. The article says that they are, and that they manufacture ecigs because so few Americans smoke, with Buchanan (or the writer) then implying they are a big tobacco company trying to save their industry, and conflating big tobacco's past into SE's business. I will grant them this however - I don't know who is invested in SE. They don't seem to either, so...

Schiff's quote is just weird, the passive voiced "[ecigs] are not being counted as a way to quit smoking." By whom? Schiff? It's meaningless. And then of course their mantra, they haven't seen "anything" to indicate it's effective for cessation, when the professionally ethical statement would be, they don't know anything about it at all.

Not in my quote, but the article also includes the bizarre statement, "Some students don’t believe electronic cigarettes will get them to start smoking."