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E Cigarette & Modified Risk Debate Raging Despite Evidence
The Institute of Medicine is pressuring the FDA to only approve e cigarette and nicotine lozenges, or “modified risk” products, as a safe alternative to smoking after more rigorous testing. They recommend more laboratory testing, animal testing, human clinical trials and post-marketing studies as part of this process. Potential for addiction as well as the components' actual risk of harm are recommended points of study.
Their stated goal is that if a product claims to be “safer than” cigarettes, then it should be proven. They cite the widely accepted misinformation about the relative safety of light and ultra-light cigarettes by tobacco companies as their motivation.
Existing Evidence of E-Cig Safety
The addictive properties of nicotine are well established and documented. Any form of nicotine delivery, whether by smoking, chewing, snorting, swallowing, transdermal absorption, or vaping can be safely assumed to be potentially addictive. Further testing on this matter is most likely redundant.
Looking past the seemingly self-evident relative safety of water vapor versus smoke, there has already been significant scientific studies on the relative safety of several “modified risk” nicotine products. These tests were conducted by Harm Reduction International, a well-respected organization of international scientists dedicated to improving health, including discovering ways to reduce the harm of addictive substances. Their proof of the relative safety of electric cigarette and nicotine lozenge use is published on several of their websites and is archived at The National Center for Biotechnology Information, US National Library of Medicine's website, courtesy of BioMed Central.
Comments By the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association
According to Ray Story, the CEO of TVECA, public health and safety are not the motivations behind the IOM's suggestions. He believes that this is the product of a conspiracy between pharmaceutical companies, tobacco companies and the federal government to shut down e cigarette sales. Whether he is right or not is debatable, but the question is still out there: How much more scientific testing is actually needed before these products are accepted as “safer than smoking?”
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