Where is the evidence?
THE article on e-cigarettes (12/12) is filled with words such as ''concerned'' and ''fear''. The quoted medical authorities are never asked to qualify or quantify their statements.
E-cigarettes have been in use worldwide for seven years and more than a million smokers in the United States have switched to them during the past
three years. Not a single serious health problem has been reported anywhere. Shouldn't the ''harm'' have become evident by now?
Ironically, several times the medical authorities state ''there is no evidence'' when speaking of potential benefits of the products. How do they explain the fact that such evidence does exist?
Recently the Italian No Smoking Organisation issued a press release, ''Electronic cigarettes are safe and can help quitting'', describing Professor Riccardo Polosa's study on smoking cessation using electronic cigarettes. In the July 20 issue of
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, Virginia Commonwealth University published the results of a study comparing smoking to two brands of electronic cigarettes.
This research showed that both brands of e-cigarettes "significantly decreased
tobacco abstinence symptom ratings" and "neither of the electronic cigarettes exposed users to measurable levels of nicotine or CO". In the April 29 edition of
Tobacco Control, University of Auckland researchers reported on a single blind randomised study. A 16mg electronic cigarette alleviated the desire to smoke as well as the Nicorette inhalator, and participants found them more pleasant to use, producing less irritation of mouth and throat, despite the fact that the electronic cigarette raised serum nicotine only half as much as the Nicorette inhalator and only a 10th as much as a tobacco cigarette. All of these clinical trials point to the ability of electronic cigarettes to be a safer, effective alternative to smoking.
ELAINE KELLER, vice-president, The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association
