The Pro Vaping Evidence is Growing – What Health Bodies Say About E Cigs

Scientists and Health Organizations Continue to Back Vaping

If like me you’ve popped into your local vape shop recently not much seems to have changed following the introduction of the EU regulations that came into force back in May.

The TPD (Tobacco Products Directive) was introduced in 2014 and looked to spell the death knell for vaping as we know it.

But don’t rest on your laurels it’s still there in the shadows waiting to pounce!

However the slow but steady supply of positive information from health bodies – particularly in England – about the benefits of vaping is surely making the EU directive look positively ridiculous.

In a week that saw New Zealand finally remove the banning of e-cigarettes – a much welcomed lifesaving move – it might be a good time to look at the positives recent research into e-cigs and vaping has had.

E-Cigs Should be Promoted More Widely – Royal College of Physicians

In what was a real game changer for the pro-vaping community the report by the UK’s Royal College of Physicians has been the strongest recommendation yet for the benefits of vaping as a way to pack up smoking.

The full report – Nicotine Without Smoke positively praises vaping as a way to not only stop smoking – but saves millions of lives and millions of pounds in the NHS.

The main points the report threw up included:

• Vaping is not a gateway to smoking
• E-Cigs do not normalize smoking
• Vaping increases the likelihood of smokers quitting
• Vaping is 95% safer than smoking

As I said this has been as close to the silver bullet that vaping should be positively encouraged as we have gotten so far.

As more and more research papers from scientists and health bodies are published we can only hope it’s a matter of time before vaping is accepted once and for all.

Read the full report HERE.

Vaping and Smoking Cessation Services – National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training

One of the best reports to come into the public domain around the whole aspect of vaping and e-cigs has to be the Electronic Cigarettes: A briefing for stop smoking services.

Published by the NCSCT (National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training) back in January this year, the document is designed for health professionals working in stop smoking help centres across the country.

In its opening statement of intent it clearly states:

We begin by acknowledging that e-cigarettes are considerably safer than smoking cigarettes, are popular with smokers and that they have a role to play in reducing smoking rates.

In easy to read and digest segments the report lays out in detail the various types of vaping kit – various health related reports and how to work with smokers trying to quit via vaping.

It’s one of the best and most detailed pro-vape Government reports on vaping you’re ever likely to read and let’s hope anti-smoking campaigns begin to push this hard.

Read the full report HERE.

Vaping in the Workplace – Public Health England

This report was picked up by the ‘mainstream media’ and spun to seemingly make everyone shun vapers in the workplace!

It was a classic case of taking pro vaping scientific evidence and spinning it to suit the anti-vape lobby.

Even my local evening paper took to the streets indignantly asking passers-by if vapers should get extra work breaks to ‘enjoy’ their habit.

Here’s the segment the reporter used to get the anti-vape lobby angle:

Vaping provides a generally lower blood nicotine level and takes longer to reach a desired level, requiring frequent interim top-ups.
This difference should be taken into account, particularly when developing policies for workplaces.

You could argue the ‘extra-breaks’ angle is there – however for me it’s clutching at straws – especially as the next line in the report makes in clear that vapers should NEVER be made to stand in the same areas as smokers.

You might be surprised to see the poll the newspaper did was pretty much a 50-50 split – not what the reporter was hoping for I’m sure!

However that was not the story – not by a long way and there was absolutely NO mention of the harm smoking can do to work colleagues and passers-by – like I say “spin”.

If you read the article we did on the subject of vaping at the work – you can see exactly what the Public Health England report was doing.

Read the full report HERE.

Vaping Whilst Pregnant – Smoking In Pregnancy Challenge Group

The human cost of smoking whilst pregnant makes for sobering reading.

Each year 2,200 babies are born premature – there are 5,000 miscarriages and a staggering 300 perinatal deaths are recorded.

Add to that the cost to the NHS of £20million to £87million in treating mothers and babies affected by smoking and you can see just what a major issue smoking whilst pregnant is.

It’s estimated that 12% of women smoke right up until they give birth. 4 years ago the Government demanded action and the Smoking in Pregnancy Challenge Group was formed.

The group found that by far the easiest way for women to stop smoking during pregnancy was by switching to vaping.

On the back of detailed research they produced a leaflet for Midwives – Doctors and other health professionals offering advice to help pregnant women to use vaping as an alternative to smoking if they struggle to give up altogether.

The report concluded:

Although not completely risk free, electronic cigarettes carry a fraction of the risk of smoking for users, with no known risks to bystanders.

You can download the full report HERE.

Vaping Could Save Millions of Lives – Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco

Over the pond in America vapers have their own version of the TPD to combat in the shape of the TCA (Tobacco Control Act).

An uneducated congress has been particularly vicious towards the vaping industry and vapers with a current bill if passed decimating vaping as our American friends know it.

However a recently published report by the Nicotine and Tobacco Research Journal has thrown a spanner into the anti-vape lobby by mirroring other findings here in the UK – that a switch to vaping could save millions of lives.

This is once again hard evidence that vaping is having more than a positive effect on saving lives – as I said in the article whilst this isn’t the silver bullet it is yet another step in the right direction.

You can read a precis of the findings HERE.

In Conclusion

If truth be told and despite health officials and scientists continuing to praise the benefits of vaping as a tool to pack up the fags, it’s Governments across the globe that are in a state of denial if not turmoil.

No doubt under pressure from powerful big tobacco company lobbies – it seems only a handful of politicians are listening.

It’s great news that New Zealand and France have recently begun looking at the benefits of vaping and here in the UK there are green shoots appearing.

Brexit has thrown a collective spanner in the works as to how the UK tackles the fall out from TPD – do we follow the ridiculous legislation like sheep and condemn millions of smokers and vapers to death?

Not only that the whole vaping industry – so new and yet so vibrant and innovative – would be gone literally overnight. The human cost of jobs and the knock-on effect would be catastrophic.

The UK has been almost radical in its research and stance on vaping and pretty much leads the way on how the future of vaping could be shaped.

The Government of course has other things on its mind post Brexit but surely saving billions of lives and creating a healthier country should be much higher in their priorities than it currently is.