On May 31, 2023, I delivered an invited lecture to the Associação Brasileira de Estudos do Álcool e outras Drogas (Brazilian Association for the Study of Alcohol and Other Drugs) entitled “E-cigarettes: Harm enhancement and protection of global tobacco interests.” As the title indicates it is a comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge on e-cigarettes. The lecture presents evidence to debunk 4 widespread myths about e-cigarettes:
- Innovative technology developed to compete with multinational tobacco companies
- Help smokers quit
- Substantially safer than cigarettes
- Won’t appeal to kids
While these hypotheses were reasonable ideas 18 years ago when e-cigarettes first appeared on the market, the current evidence contradicts all of them:
- E-cigarettes are an innovative technology developed by multinational tobacco companies to keep customers
- As consumer products, e-cigarettes don’t help smokers quit and may be preventing quitting
- E-cigarettes are about as dangerous as cigarettes
- Especially when considering dual use
- E-cigarettes attract low-risk kids to nicotine and expand tobacco market
You can watch the full lecture (1 hour, in English) followed by a 35 minute Q&A (in Portuguese and English) on YouTube:
Stanton Glantz blog 