Any self-respecting smoker determined to battle the habit would value what experts have to say about electronic cigarettes, if they decide to use this as a smoke cessation device. What the World Health Organization (WHO) has to say about it matters not only to the consumers, but even to lawmakers using “expert opinions” to support proposed bills for or against use of E-Cigarettes.
What happens when smokers hear or read about a cardiologist criticizing WHO for issuing out an alarming report on e-cigarettes? If you are a smoker seeking guidance regarding the use of electronic cigarettes, how will you react if a reputed group of tobacco health experts and researchers would not only criticize but also accuse WHO of “misleading” the public?
WHO’s Report: Strict Regulation of ENDS
E-Cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are portrayed as a safe alternative to smoking nicotine-laden cigarettes. As such, they offer a higher chance of success to determined quitters. Thus, the WHO Report that came out last August, 2014 calling for its strict regulation has eroded early hopes built around it. With staunch allies such as the American Heart Association (AHA), the Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa) as well as the European Respiratory Society (ERS), disproving their findings is something that’s harder to do.
The Report successfully painted E-Cigarettes a different picture. News headlines were splashed across the Internet liberally using unsubstantiated adjectives to refer to the electronic device such as “highly addictive poison” or “slow poison.” WHO cited that nicotine can affect fetal development and it is as addictive as heroin and cocaine. Nobody questions “nicotine effects,” they were right about that. It is, in fact, the reason why smoking of cigarettes has to stop and why ENDS are recommended having lower nicotine content.
A Clashing View
The World Health Organization Report watered down so many hopes, but all is not lost as a bunch of “alarmed” tobacco health experts and researchers from England universities – King College London, University College London and Queen Mary University of London – stood up to question their position.
Professor Ann McNeill, the lead author from the National Addiction Centre at King’s College London said, “We were surprised by the negativity of the commissioned review, and found it misleading and not an accurate reflection of available evidence.” Together with Professor Peter Hajek, a tobacco expert from the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit based at Queen Mary University of London, they contended that there are vital errors, misconceptions and even misrepresentations in the report made released by the World Health Organization. While the group agrees that they don’t yet have all the answers especially in its long-term impacts on health, they are sure ENDS are safer alternatives to smoking cigarettes.
Contending with Repercussions
The stand made by the English experts has somehow weakened the impact of WHO Report, yet there are repercussions that are now felt in many states. For instance, the U.S. FDA and many states are taking the recommendations in the report seriously so that vaping is now being banned in public places in many states. While the report also said that it is still “an evolving frontier,” meaning many revisions can be anticipated to come in the future pending the release of more scientific basis, the restrictions are causing an outcry from disgruntled vapers.
The displeased vapers caught in the middle of the debate unanimously agree that E-Cigarettes are not as bad as the real thing. In fact, it is widely viewed, even by medical practitioners, as something that is generally safe and that’s filled with promise. In the face of these clashes, you’d be happy if in time scientific studies will prove that WHO is wrong; until then you have to vape at your own risk.