Sunday 2 October 2011

Raising The Bar For E-Cigs

Just yer average e-cig user, yesterday

Tobacco control have kept this quiet, haven't they?

The persistent use of different forms of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is an under-investigated issue in medical research. While the data concerning the proportion of long-term users in the population of total NRT users seems reassuring at first glance, we must recognize that the small relative numbers (proportions) conceal a population of persistent NRT users with a considerable absolute number of members. Furthermore, only a small amount of data is available concerning the safety of persistent NRT use. At the present time we therefore have no basis for declaring that the population of long-term users are under cover (we are only able to state that persistent use of NRT is undoubtedly safer than the continuation of smoking). Consequently, there is a need to conduct large-scale studies with the primary aim of monitoring for misuse of OTC NRT and assessing the possible physical and mental health risks of persistent NRT use.
My my, a risk to long term use of nicotine products? Best get them out of supermarkets pronto under the precautionary principle, then.

It's the done thing in Ireland, after all ...

Electronic cigarettes have been removed from the shelves of leading Irish pharmacies because the products may be unsafe.
... and the US ...

"So I did some research," said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, a Manhattan Democrat and 20-year smoker who quit more than a dozen years ago. "I found what is in the e-cigarettes is a mystery."

She wants to ban them in New York until they are more thoroughly investigated and regulated.
... and Canada ...

Health Canada is advising Canadians not to purchase or use electronic smoking products, as these products may pose health risks and have not been fully evaluated for safety, quality and efficacy by Health Canada.
... and Australia ...

The 70 packages containing liquid nicotine e-cigarettes were seized and destroyed at Brisbane Airport’s postal screening service last week.

Some people use them as a tool to quit smoking, but Queensland Health officials have warned regional Queenslanders not to buy them online from the various websites.
... and Argentina ...

"There is no scientific evidence that validates these products as auxiliary measures to stop smoking, nor their safety," said Roberto Lede, a senior official in Argentina's state regulatory office said.

The statement mentioned a World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation stating that the level of safety and the degree of nicotine absorption by these products has not been established.
... etc, etc, etc, ad infinitum.

In light of the fact that long term use hasn't yet been proven safe (in addition to the highly dangerous consequences of kids getting hold of it), I can't see what would be stopping the immediate withdrawal of NRT retail sales, can you?

Public health officials are backing away from recommending against the long-term use of nicotine gum, lozenges and patches. The Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to eliminate the 12-week warning and instead recommend nicotine-based quit-smoking aids for extended—perhaps even permanent—use. Anti-tobacco activists and GlaxoSmithKline PLC, the U.S.'s leading marketer of nicotine-replacement therapy, or NRT, are also backing the potential move.
Oh yeah, there is that, I suppose.

It ceased being about health a long time ago, really. Didn't it.


7 comments:

The Filthy Engineer said...

It's all about the money as always.

nisakiman said...

It is all so depressingly predictable that the punchline at the end of the post lacked any punch at all. Funny how the MSM never seem to pick up on any of this stuff.

I hesitate to invoke Godwin, but I can't help seeing the parallels between the hopelessness of the German Jews being ground down by the Nazi propaganda machine in the early days of the Third Reich and the beleaguered smokers, (and now vapers) of today battling the anti-smoker / big pharma propaganda machine.

It's relentless and it's merciless; a real "end justifies the means" campaign based on hate, spite and prejudice.

Campaign for Vaping in Pubs said...

I'm all for pleasurable choice - NRT is NOT pleasurable at all :( I would recommend ecigs over NRT, BUT I would also recommend smoking over NRT.

If you want the pleasure, stick to your guns,,,smoke where you can, use ecigs where you cannot smoke!

Russell VR Ord
Campaign for Vaping in Pubs

Leg-iron said...

If I have spare leaves I'll try making Electrofag juice. It's not hard, nicotine is water-soluble. Concentration? Who gives a damn?

I've been wondering if I could make it and keep the floral scent of the flowers I've been smoking but this year, I started too late.

Might try anyway. If it will piss off the Righteous it's worth it.

Ian B said...

The striking thing really is that nobody cares what is true any more. This is in a sense the endgame of demonisation. Once some minority is successfull demonised, you can say anything. Even if people realise what you are saying is untrue, they will not mind. So, in order to further Godwinise the thread, for example the Jews. Once everyone has accepted the Jews are evil, you might then say, "Jews suck the blood from babies".

And if somebody else says, "that isn't true, is it?" another person will say, "well no, but they're evil anyway, so it doesn't matter".

You know, I focus in what I laughably call "my research" on belief, and how belief systems evolve. The Marxists got that very right; you have to change the "ideological hegemony", then you can do anything. I went for a meal with my sister and her husband last week, and they are nominally conservative.

And my Brother in law in particular, he hates everything leftie, and the nanny state, and all that, and he smokes and likes a drink. But, we were talking, and he came out with this "the planet is fucked" thing, and i said, "no, no it isn't", and he reeled off the litany of environmentalist twaddle, and I half-heartedly started trying to debunk it but gave up, because you can't.

It's a belief. You get the general idea stuck in somebody's head that the planet is going to hell in a handbasket, and trying to change their mind is virtually impossible. That's belief. They just *know* in their heart.

*shrugs*

I dunno. I guess we just keep plugging away. But other than on The Internets, I don't know a single soul who hasn't internalised considerable fraction of The Ideology, even people who think of themselves as "conservative" and hating the State and so on. It's very disheartening.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Ian B.
I have a friend (or rather a long-term friendly acquaintance)who is not unhappy with the ban. He drinks and smokes. He says that the ban has been useful because, by standing outside the pub, he has been enabled to have lots of conversations with people he would never normally has spoken with. But I only see him there on Friday nights (the only night on which the pub is busy).

This chap is an intelligent man, and yet he cannot see further than his own immediate assessment of the pros and cons. I find all this very confusing - why does he not think the matter through a little? No matter what I say to him (about smoking rooms, for example), he shrugs his shoulders. I suspect that a complete ban on tobacco would be similarly received because he vaguely wants to give up smoking - another shrug of the shoulders. But I wonder what his attitude will be when his favourite pubs start closing down?

Xopher said...

I'm told there was an interesting and unexpected item on 'Daybreak' this morning!
Dr Hilary Jones (on no-smoking day) talked about e-cigs and PROMOTED E-CIGS as good substitute for smoking. He even showed a pub with a room set aside for vapers.