Emerging evidence that vaping helps quit smoking in Canada

The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) says more and more evidence has emerged showing that vaping can help smokers quit.

Although it has advocated e-cigarettes as an effective quit smoking tool for much of the past decade, the Association points out that opponents of vaping have confused smokers and the public by dishonestly claiming that vaping is ineffective for quitting smoking.

The Canadian Vaping Association is a national, registered, not-for-profit organization established as the voice of the Canadian vaping industry. Founded in 2014, the CVA represents over 200 vaping companies in Canada. CVA membership does not include tobacco companies or their affiliates.

She quotes Martin Dockrell of Public Health England as saying: “The claim that e-cigarettes cannot help people quit smoking is now so clearly false that anyone who does so not only discredits themselves, but worse, undermines the public confidence in science. »

The CVA adds, “Vaping is currently the most widely used anti-smoking intervention, as demonstrated in clinical trials and reviews. An international review, produced by Cochrane, a global network of independent researchers, looked at 50 of the best studies on vaping effectiveness. The review found that e-cigarettes containing nicotine are superior to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), e-cigarettes without nicotine, and behavioral interventions in helping people quit smoking. »

“Another study, published in the American Medical Association Journal, found that ‘those who used e-cigarettes daily at the end of the study were 8 times more likely to quit smoking completely.’ They were also almost 10 times more likely to quit smoking cigarettes daily. »

The Canadian Vaping Association points out that Public Health England’s (PHE) seventh independent report on vaping in England, carried out by researchers at King’s College London, found that the use of a vaping product in the context of of a quit attempt had the highest success rates – between 59.7% and 74% in 2019 and 2020.

Although science continues to prove that vaping is an effective harm reduction tool, vaping regulations have become increasingly restrictive and even prohibitive in some areas.

The Association goes on to quote Dr. Mark Tyndall: “It is illogical and unwise to promote policies that would restrict or even prohibit the sale of vaping products in places where cigarettes are available. There really is no precedent in public health where a much safer drug, medical device or procedure is introduced and then heavily restricted or banned, while the lethal drug/device/procedure is allowed to Continue. This is exactly what happens with vaping and all safer nicotine delivery systems. »

CVA Board Counsel Darryl Tempest concluded, “Tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Canada. Vaping presents a tool to reduce smoking rates faster than previously thought. For the greatest potential public health benefit, smokers need a clear message that vaping is an option to reduce the harm caused by combustible tobacco. »

Written by Monsieur Vapoteur and published from the Journal du Vapoteur