Confidence in E-cigarettes

[Alex]

Over 51 percent participants in the Liverpool Stop Smoking Service have tried electronic cigarettes and almost 46 percent are currently using them.


The results came from 320 smokers in the Roy Castle FagEnds study, which is designed to understand the number of people who used e-cigarettes and what smokers thought about the products. The data presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool found that smokers are more likely to try e-cigarettes if they are confident that the products are safer than tobacco smoking.
Smokers appear undecided towards e-cigarettes, possibly due to the widely documented uncertainties about safety and effectiveness in helping smokers to successfully break their addiction. Some also viewed using e-cigarettes as an extension of smoking and perceived them as an inferior tool for helping to quit smoking.

Generally e-cigarettes were viewed indifferently. 20 of the smokers were then interviewed by phone and some of these viewed e-cigarettes negatively. Additionally, some participants were misinformed of or misunderstood the risks associated with e-cigarettes.

Frances Sherratt, lead author from the University of Liverpool, said, "Our results show that electronic cigarettes are commonly used by smokers wanting to quit and seek help through the Stop Smoking Services. Many smokers also viewed e-cigarettes negatively or indifferently as a way to stop smoking. This study highlights the need for better education regarding e-cigarettes, to enable smokers to make balanced, informed smoking cessation treatment decisions to help them quit."

Paula Chadwick, chief executive of Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, which helped fund the research, said, "While the research suggests that a high proportion of smokers try e-cigarettes as an aid to quitting, it also shows that many recognise their effectiveness is limited compared to more conventional, proven techniques.

"Lingering issues around their safety and long-term health impact also continue to affect public opinion. People are more likely to be successful with the tailored, one-to-one support of a quit smoking professional and this seems to have been understood by the majority of those surveyed."

Dr Karen Kennedy, Director of the NCRI, said, "This research provides an interesting insight into how many, and why, smokers use e-cigarettes. Tobacco is the single biggest cause of preventable cancer deaths, so understanding how smokers can be better helped in breaking the addiction is extremely valuable in reducing cancer deaths."



Source: Cancer Research UK

 

[hands]

it also shows that many recognise their effectiveness is limited compared to more conventional, proven techniques.

ummm what would those proven technicues be?

 

[Alex]

ummm what would those proven technicues be?

Have a look at this article http://www.ecigarette-politics.com/


The Smoking Economy
Smoking has created one of the world's biggest money machines - a machine that benefits innumerable people in multiple industries, organisations, and government departments. The smoking economy is worth more than one trillion dollars a year; it is immensely powerful and well able to protect itself. Its power is obvious from the way that, now a way to finally remove smoking has been invented, that solution is being blocked.

The effect of a technology change point
Technology advances, though, and life changes inexorably as a result. Progress can be slowed by those whose employment depends on smoking - but it cannot be stopped. There are massive public health gains here for the taking; our job is to help sweep aside those who are deliberately slowing progress.

If someone argues against THR then you can be assured that their employment depends, ultimately, upon smoking. Otherwise, no one would be arguing against something that will obviously save millions of lives when nothing else can do so.

The smoking economy is far too powerful to be easily defeated. However, we are at a technology change point: at such a break point the world changes, and no other factor can override that change. It means that nothing can stop electronic cigarettes now the technology is in use - only the timescale to full implementation can be affected by external factors, no matter how powerful they are. We know that this must happen within thirty years as it is always so; for maximum benefit to public health we should aim for a 20-year conversion period. Industries that benefit from smoking will fight hard to protect their domain from the ecigarette; but we already know the outcome. Nothing stops a new technology: it replaces the old system and nothing can stop it doing so.