Electronic cigarettes’ quit credentials have been demonstrated

Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR), a proponent of the ‘quit or die’ approach to smoking cessation, is misleading the public about the hazards of electronic cigarettes, according to Elaine Keller, president of The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA).

In a press note released through PR Newswire, CASAA said that a recent ANR press release had falsely claimed that there was ‘a lack of independent peer-reviewed scientific evidence demonstrating the safety or efficacy’ of electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.

‘FDA-approved nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, nasal sprays, and oral inhalers are referred to as Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) products, but all these products are aimed at reducing the daily intake of nicotine to zero, and all have a 93 per cent mid-year failure rate,’ the CASAA press note said.

‘In contrast, a growing body of scientific evidence is showing that providing smokers with a low-risk alternative such as electronic cigarettes is a much more effective way than nicotine-abstinence to achieve abstinence from smoking.

‘BMC Public Health, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published the results of an Italian pilot study that monitored modifications in smoking habits of 40 smokers not interested in quitting smoking.

‘The researchers observed a 50 per cent reduction of smoking in 32.5 per cent of subjects and an 80 per cent reduction in 12.5 per cent of subjects.

‘But they were astonished to discover that at the end of the six-month study, 22.5 per cent of these unwilling-to-quit subjects had completely stopped smoking.

‘Among smokers that want to quit, the results are even more remarkable.’

CASAA cited also the peer-reviewed American Journal of Public Health that had published the results of an online survey of first-time buyers of a particular brand of e-cigarette. The six-month smoking abstinence rate was 31 per cent among this group, it said.

The full text is at: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/americans-for-nonsmokers-rights-shamelessly-promotes-continued-smoking-makes-false-claims-about-hazards-of-electronic-cigarettes-172180501.html.