Cigs May Reduce Harm from Tobacco Smoking, Improve Public Health

In a result that has health experts in Canada concerned, a new study finds that roughly ten per cent of students questioned about e-cigarettes said that they use them, with many responding that they did so because they thought e-cigarettes were “cool, fun or new”.

The study involved 2367 students aged 14-15 years enrolled in grade 9 in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada.

E-cigarette use is now more common among adolescents than conventional cigarettes, but the practice that mimics the tactile experience of smoking could also renormalize it for youth who’ve grown up learning about its effects on health, said Khoury, who is currently completing his residency at Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton.

“While e-cigarettes are frequently used as devices for smoking cessation in adults, we found most students in our survey (including 47.8% of those who recently smoked cigarettes) were motivated by the “cool/fun/something new” features of e-cigarettes”, writes Dr. Michael Khoury and coauthors.

E-cigarettes deliver a smaller nicotine hit than traditional cigarettes, so users should be allowed extra breaks for the “frequent interim top-ups” they need, the advice says.

Fruit and candy flavourings in e-cigarette liquids are the number 1 reason they appeal to youth, and there are calls on the federal government to prohibit flavourings.

And they are calling for the continuation of strict regulations to help reduce the use of e-cigarettes among younger people.

E-cigarette vapour can be irritating to people with asthma and other respiratory conditions, it admits and their needs “should be taken into account”.

The recent claims by some scientists that e-cigarettes are likely to act as a gateway to the use of tobacco products are overstated, Levy added.

In November 2014, Hammond testified to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, which recommended Health Canada establish a common framework to regulate e-cigarettes.

“No formal safety requirements exist regarding e-cigarette product development, ingredient disclosure, information on nicotine levels and risk of use”, says the Heart and Stroke Foundation in a statement.

The study also fond that under most plausible scenarios, e-cigarettes and other vapor produces have a generally positive public health impact.