Tobacco control advocates disagree on whether
e-cigarettes are a useful tool to get smokers off tobacco, or just a sleeker
form of one of the world's deadliest addictions.
A lot of that discord comes from the fact that
there's just not enough science to know the risks and benefits of e-cigarettes,
which deliver nicotine in a vapor rather than through tobacco smoke. And it
could take years to find out if vaping causes cancer and other deadly diseases.
But that lack of certainty means that people
need more protection, not less, according to a report
released Tuesday by the World Health Organization. The global health
organization called for a ban on indoor use of e-cigarettes in workplaces,
restaurants and other public spaces.
OK
To Vape In The Office? Cities, Feds And Firms Still Deciding
The vapors "pose a serious health threat
to adolescents and fetuses," the report says, "and increase exposure
of nonsmokers and bystanders to nicotine and a number of toxicants." Some
studies have found that bystanders absorb more nicotine from vapor than from
tobacco smoke, the report says.
One of the biggest selling points for
e-cigarettes — that they can help people quit tobacco — hasn't been
systematically tested, the WHO report finds. E-cigarettes are probably less
toxic for smokers who switch completely, the report says. "The amount of
risk reduction, however, is presently unknown."
Advertising of e-cigarettes should be banned,
the report says, to reduce the risk to children and teenagers. The liquid used
in the devices is often candy flavored.
And e-cigarettes don't necessarily deter young
people from smoking tobacco, according to a study from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention published Monday. Earlier studies have found a modest
deterrent effect. But this study
found that 44 percent of those who used e-cigarettes say they plan to try
tobacco cigarettes in the next year, compared with 22 percent of those who
haven't tried e-cigs.
FDA
Moves To Regulate Increasingly Popular E-Cigarettes
The number of teenagers who had never smoked a
cigarette but used electronic cigarettes more than tripled in three years, the
study found, rising from 79,000 in 2011 to more than 263,000 in 2013. The results
were published in Nicotine and Tobacco
Research.
And if that's not enough, the American Heart
Association issued its first policy
statement on e-cigarettes, saying that the devices should be regulated like
tobacco products by state and local governments, including them in smoke-free
laws and taxing them to discourage use by teenagers.
In April, the Food and Drug Administration
issued proposed
regulations for e-cigarettes, but final rules are the focus of intense
lobbying by tobacco control advocates and the tobacco industry.
Both the WHO and AHA reports voiced fears that
rather than help get rid of tobacco forever, e-cigarettes could make smoking
culturally acceptable once again.
The reports were issued in advance of a global
health meeting in Moscow
Reference: Health News from NPR
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