E-Cigarettes Have Huge Potential to Fight Tobacco Use
According to Mr. Zoltan Masai-Kosubek, policy coordinator of the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA): "E-cigarettes have huge potential to combat the tobacco epidemic, and a seriously regulated e-cigarette market can help smokers break free from this deadly habit."
The "Doctor's News Digest" agrees with this view, claiming that the increasing scientific and empirical evidence shows that e-cigarettes are 99% less harmful than cigarettes. The harm of e-cigarettes to non-users is negligible.So, why does Austrian Health Minister Sabine Oberhauser want to ban not only cigarettes but also e-cigarettes and water pipes in restaurants and bars? Evidence suggests that this seems counterproductive in helping millions of Austrians quit tobacco dependence.
Survey results show that about 1 million smokers have switched from tobacco products to e-cigarettes. In the past five years, e-cigarettes have replaced approximately 1 billion packs of cigarettes in the United States and have proven to be more effective than nicotine gum, lozenges, patches, and inhalers approved by the FDA for quitting smoking. There is no evidence that e-cigarettes cause nicotine dependence.
