Last February, The American Cancer Society shyly positioned in favor of the e-cigarette to fight against smoking. A few months later, the position taken remains timid but becomes clearer. Indeed, for the American Cancer Society, the use of electronic cigarettes is clearly not without risks.
E-CIGARETTE LESS DANGEROUS THAN SMOKING BUT NOT WITHOUT RISKS!
There is little, the American Cancer Society has positioned itself with caution in the case of the e-cigarette. For this institution, they are less harmful than conventional cigarettes and can help smokers who do not want or cannot quit smoking with the methods approved by the FDA.
« According to the data currently available, the use of the latest generation of electronic cigarettes is less harmful than the consumption of cigarettes. However, its health effects from long-term use are not known. The American Cancer Society (ACS) takes on the responsibility of closely monitoring and synthesizing scientific knowledge about the effects of all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes. As new evidence emerges, CHA will quickly report these findings to decision-makers, the public and clinicians. »
To find out more, the site HemOnc Today talked with Jeffrey Drope, vice president of economic and health policy research at the American Cancer Society.
Can you summarize the key points about your position ?
Jeffrey Drope : I want to stress that it is the use of combustible tobacco that prompts us to think about electronic cigarettes. We know that in the United States, regular cigarettes are the leading cause of cancer. Tobacco kills more than 7 million people worldwide and nearly half a million in the United States. This is a huge problem and it frames our position on tobacco products.
When it comes to the science of electronic cigarettes, we have done an extensive research review and pooled data from hundreds of articles to assess the accuracy of the scientific data. We have come to the conclusion, based on the available evidence, that using current generation electronic cigarettes is somewhat less harmful than smoking. The major concern is the fact that we do not know the long term effects of electronic cigarette use.
We want smokers to try to quit smoking with FDA approved smoking cessation aids, preferably with counseling, as most research suggests this is the best strategy for quitting. There are a lot of weaning techniques available; However, they are not used as effectively as they could be for a number of reasons.
This is our starting point but for patients who have made multiple quit attempts with FDA approved aids, they should be encouraged to switch to the least harmful product possible. This means, based on current data, that we suggest switching to e-cigarettes exclusively with the goal of quitting all tobacco products as soon as possible.
How and why does this political position differ from the previous position of the American Cancer Society ?
We did not have an explicit policy on e-cigarette use prior to this. We have changed the very specific conditions for which we would perhaps be a little more open regarding the use of e-cigarettes. I would like to reiterate that we will never recommend the use of electronic cigarettes to people who have never smoked or who have smoked in the past.
