If you thought the debates about the role of e-cigarettes in dealing with the most important public health problem we face smoking was hot before, you ain t seen nothin yet. There were a flurry of new commentaries this weekend, based on sound science and commonsense.
harm reduction
When it comes to teen smoking, primary care physicians shouldn t butt out. New recommendations suggest that the dangers of smoking, when broached by the family doctor rather than friends or family, are more likely to influence teenagers to quit the habit, or better yet, to never start.
ACSH staffers met for 2 hours with several representatives of the NYC Council to educate the officials about harm reduction and e-cigarettes. The session went quite well, with much information being exchanged. Stay tuned for the videotape. And the current JAMA has a misleading, useless propaganda piece on e-cigarette regulation.
Today s edition of Lancet Respiratory Medicine has a debate on the crucial question of whether e-cigarettes should be regulated, and if so how, and by whom?
Many smokers are unable to quit smoking through complete nicotine and tobacco abstinence, and conventional quit-smoking programs generally present smokers with two unpleasant alternatives: quit or die.