A new international survey of experts found broad agreement on the fact that vaporization devices such as e-cigarettes are safer than traditional tobacco products. But experts also expressed that vaporize products it should only be sold in specialty stores and should not be used within public spaces. The findings come just before the Food and Drug Administration is preparing the final decisions this week on the state of the vaping market in the US.
Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products they are marketed as better and safer alternatives to smoking cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes work by vaporizing liquid full of nicotine that can then be inhaled, while heated tobacco products are supposed to “heat-not-burn” the tobacco inside, in theory lead to less harmful emissions. Vaporizers can also be used to consume other drugs, such as cannabis or its active ingredient THC.
The FDA is will launch its first important regulations as for the industry on Sept. 9, which will include its final decision on millions of applications from e-cigarette companies. The agency has said it will deny products that do not prove to be “suitable for public health protection.” In recent weeks, he has already done so arrested 55,000 flavored products from three small businesses in the market, perhaps indicate that few of these products will survive abandonment.
In a new study published and BMJ Open, researchers from France and Switzerland decided to survey public health specialists all over the world their opinions on the future of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products. They used a method known as Delphi survey, which uses a series of detailed questionnaires and comments to help determine consensus among experts on a specific topic (i.e., the survey is not intended to be a simple question-and-answer survey).
They conducted two rounds of the survey, the first with 92 experts and the second with 55. These participants came from 15 countries, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, France, and the United States.hey, you all had experience in tobacco control research or quitting smoking.
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For e-cigarettes, the team found a consensus (at least 70% agree on yes-no questions, for example) that all ingredients in an e-liquid should be included in the product; that there should be a maximum concentration of nicotine in an e-liquid; and that products must come with a warning label stating the limited evidence of theirslong-term results, including its potential for safety and addiction. Electronic cigarettes, they also agreed, should not be sold in general stores, only in specialty vaporization stores or other places where tobacco products are sold, such as pharmacies with sales restrictions for minors. Heated tobacco products should be considered as addictive as traditional cigarettes and should come with the same warnings and taxes that are attached to cigarettes, according to the respondent the experts said.
Most experts agreed that e-cigarettes are safer than cigarettes and less addictive than heated tobacco products, and that vaping should be offered as one of the many aids to quit smoking. But most also believed that people are more likely to use e-cigarettes and cigarettes at the same time, instead of using vaping as a way to quit smoking permanently. Similarly, the majority agreed that neither e-cigarettes nor heated tobacco products should be allowed indoors. public spaces and that they should not be advertised to non-smokers.
The study, while aiming to be the first international survey of its kind, has its warnings. That is, the low response rate, with only 34% of eligible participants responding to the initial survey and only a little over half returning in the second round. Researchers warn that the findings may not be generalizable to all relevant experts around the world. They also noted that the second round of the survey took place after the lung disease epidemic among some vaping users in the US in 2019, which could have affected the opinions of some people (the crisis, although some states used it as a justification to further repress the industry, yes) layout on the black market THC products, which are not legally sold in e-cigarettes).
Some countries, especially the UK, seem to have a much more favorable view of e-cigarettes than others. Public health experts there widely support its use as an aid to smoking cessation, and its leading public health agency he argues that smoking is at least 95% less harmful than smoking. There are also some scientists in the United States who have been a lot critical of his fellow researchers who do he argued than as policies banning flavored products can be counterproductive and increase the risk of smoking in teens.
The authors of the new study point out the ongoing debates about vaping and the “passionate responses” expressed by experts from various parties. But they also hope that its results “can be useful for health authorities, decision-makers and researchers in the field of tobacco use and cessation.”