A British medical group supports the idea of smoking being substituted with electronic cigarettes.
Contrary to the opinion of most public health officials in the United States, a British medical organization is now urging smokers to switch to e-cigarettes. They believe this is the best hope they have to quit the noxious tobacco cigarettes.
The recommendations were included in a report that was released by the Royal College of Physicians last Thursday. The British scientists believe there are more benefits to e-cigarettes than harms. Additionally, they insist that their usage does not determine young people to start smoking tobacco cigarettes.
John Britton, the leader of the committee which created the report and the U.K. Center for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies director from the University of Nottingham, has stated that this is the first genuine way of helping the population to quit smoking. He also added that e-cigarettes have a great potential in this endeavor, an immense health benefit that surpasses any medical intervention.
The report is thoroughly comprehensive as it lists both pro and con studies that have taken place over the years. The conclusion is that electronic cigarettes can only do five percent of the damage inflicted by tobacco cigarettes.
Electronic cigarettes produce nicotine without the chemicals and harmful tar that lead to health problems, and ultimately to cancer. While some experts believe them to be the first real chance smokers have had, others are focusing on their potential dangers, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among these dangers are listed the fact that they could inspire children and teenagers to smoke, the vapor could actually do serious harm on a long term and the fact that they could extend the smoking habits.
For instance, professor of medicine Stanton A. Glantz from the University of California believes that
“These guys, in my view, are going off a cliff. They are taking England into a series of policies that five years from now they all will really regret. They are turning England into this giant experiment on behalf of the tobacco industry.”
On the other hand, there are American experts that applaud the British effort. Professor of public health Kenneth E. Warner from the School of Public Health of the University of Michigan has said it better than anyone when comparing the two countries. The United States is focusing on hypothetical risks that have never been established while the United Kingdom has tackled potential benefits.
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