Stories

This is a contribution to a consultation and parliamentary deliberation held in Brazil in September 2023. I make five brief points in three minutes.

Vaping could lead to narrowing or blocking of blood-vessels, heart disease and premature ageing, a leading oncologist and specialist in lung cancer has warned. Ken O’Byrne [...] said “we all have to have concerns” about the explosion in vaping in recent years. “It is still nicotine and is addictive. Nicotine itself may be cancerous, the way it works in the cell. But, also, it may encourage cigarette smoking later on. So, we all have to have concerns about that. Certainly, in my own view, there needs to be much more strict legislation and control of the fashion of vaping.

The message that vaping is 95% safer than smoking has backfired, encouraging some children to vape, says a top health expert. Dr Mike McKean treats children with lung conditions and is vice-president for policy at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He says the 2015 public messaging should have been clearer - vapes are only for adults addicted to cigarettes. Evidence on the possible health risks of vaping is still being gathered.

Cigarette smoking has a major impact on global health and morbidity, and positron emission tomographic research has provided evidence for reduced inflammation in the human brain associated with cigarette smoking. Given the consequences of inflammatory dysfunction for health, the question of whether cigarette smoking affects neuroinflammation warrants further investigation. The goal of this project therefore was to validate and extend evidence of hypoinflammation related to smoking, and to examine the potential contribution of inflammation to clinical features of smoking. [...]

Popcorn lung, formally known as bronchiolitis obliterans, is a disease that causes an irreversible narrowing of lung airways. This rare condition initially gained media attention in the early 2000s due to a cluster of cases among microwave popcorn plant workers. In recent years, news media have frequently purported a link between the disease and vaping nicotine. But is there really a connection between popcorn lung and vaping?

The World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) aims to combat global tobacco-related deaths. While it has reduced smoking in some regions, its overall effectiveness is debated, especially regarding alternative nicotine products like e-cigarettes and Swedish snus. Although the WHO views these as threats, evidence suggests they could aid harm reduction. With differing smoking trends in various countries and emerging evidence supporting alternatives, the upcoming 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) in Panama represents a crucial juncture to reassess and potentially redefine global tobacco control strategies.

Now, at the moment when the FDA is finally preparing to tell the public the truth about nicotine vaping products, the American Lung Association is demanding the FDA to strike all mentions of ‘relative risk’ from its new 5-Year Strategic Plan and to abandon “the failed and flawed notions that adult smokers should switch to e-cigarettes.” Joining us today to talk through FDA’s track record on vaping misinformation and the ALA’s shocking demand is Guy Bentley the director of consumer freedom at Reason Foundation and author at Reason Magazine.

The French government have announced plans to ban disposable vapes, with the Prime Minister citing the 'gateway effect' of vapes leading young people to smoke. In this episode, Will Godfrey debunks outdated notions around the gateway effect, and the reaction of THR experts to this ban.