āThis policy is not based on evidenceā says Professor Robert West, director of tobacco studies at University College London.
Could happen⦠might happenā¦. politicians are dealing with pure speculation when they debate limiting the use of e-cigarettes. Ā āPeople might be encouraged to start smokingā said one self-appointed expert.
Really? Whereās the evidence for that? Do you know even one person who has moved from e-cigarettes to tobacco? Of course not! It works the other way around.
You see āmightā is a great word.
If you deal in facts you supply evidence. You have respect, knowledge, credibility. Ā But why bother? Anyone can wander in to the debate with whatever crackpot theory they have thought up that morning on the bus, and hey presto theyāve hit the headlines. Letās try it now and see how the word āmightā turns me from nut job into an expert in one easy moveā¦
Attempt one: Blind man listens to jazz. My deduction – listening to jazz causes blindness. Result ā Iām bonkers. People laugh at me and tell me Iām an idiot.
Attempt two: I now say āListening to jazz MIGHT cause blindness.ā Result ā Iām respected and famous. People will hail me as an expert, tell me Iām a public safety and healthcare genius and call for jazz to be banned.
Whereās my evidence?
Iāll tell you what evidence does exist. Evidence that more than five million smokers die each year from smoking. Ā Thereās no denying that. And surely thatās what we should be concentrating on?
Letās think about the evidence that smokers die 10 years earlier than non-smokers. Ā Evidence that smoking accounts for 30 percent of all cancer deaths and 87 percent of lung cancer deaths. Ā Evidence that the risk of developing lung cancer is about 23 times higher in male smokers compared to non-smokers; evidence that smoking is associated with increased risk of at least 15 types of cancer.
THAT is surely the evidence which matters?
Letās think about the HUGE health gains if smokers switch to e-cigarettes. As The Times London Health Correspondent Chris Smyth wrote only a couple of weeks ago:
āElectronic cigarettes give smokers a nicotine hit, but are considered relatively harmless because they contain no tobacco.ā
So while some politicians appear to be pretty smug with their proposals to restrict e-cigarettes, Professors West and Britton ā highly intelligent people who have devoted a lifetime to studying the effects of smoking ā are genuinely worried.
Professor Robert West, director of tobacco studies at University College London and author of The SmokeFree Formula said:
āThis policy is not based on evidence. The growth of e-cigarette use in England has been accompanied by an increase in rates of stopping smoking. E-cigarette users seem to be victims of a propaganda war being wages by some of my colleagues.ā
Please read that again. The Professor said that e-cigarettes work! Ā And Professor John Britton, director of the UK centre for tobacco control studies at the University of Nottingham said that he would not favour a blanket ban because
āitās hard to overstate the health benefits from encouraging people to switch from smoking tobacco to alternate sources of nicotine.
āThereās little evidence of gateway use. The majority of e-cigarette users are smokers trying to quit, which we want to encourage. Itās easy to tell e-cigarettes from regular cigarettes,ā added Professor Britten.
From a host of providers, just a few e-cigarette manufacturers have emerged as the industry’s global leaders. Ā “One person dies every six seconds from smoking,” said Vapourlites.com joint founder and Group MD John Quinney. “We’re so proud of our products and the deaths they help to prevent.ā