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Fiona fox's blog
The row over e-cigarettes has intensified since deaths and lung injuries were recently linked to vaping in the US. We hear multiple, sometimes contradictory claims about ecigs: the long- and short-term health effects, the impact of nicotine and flavours, adolescent use and the gateway effect, their effectiveness for smokers trying to quit, and the cause of the lung injuries. Meanwhile, the UK has backed them as a quitting aid, while the US is looking at banning flavours and India has banned ecigs altogether. What is the scientific evidence behind these wildly different policy positions?
Journalists came to the SMC to hear from three leading experts in the field.
Speakers included:
Prof Alan Boobis, Emeritus Professor of Toxicology, Imperial College London
Prof Ann McNeill, Professor of Tobacco Addiction, National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London
Prof John Britton, Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco & Alcohol Studies and Consultant in Respiratory Medicine, University of Nottingham