Following the publication of report of Public Health France these past few days, our confreres France TV could have the opinions of four specialists: the addictologist doctor and president of SOS Addictions William Lowenstein, MEP LREM and doctor Olivier Véran, the former president of the National Federation of French Mutuality Etienne Caniard and the tobacco expert Marion Adler.
“VAPOTS AND IMPROVE THE IMAGE OF VAPING! "
700 French people have stopped smoking classic cigarettes while vaping, according to Santé Publique France. On average, every day, “vapers” smoke ten less cigarettes since they have used an electronic cigarette. « Currently this is the best product« to get out of tobacco, according to the doctor William Lowenstein. Olivier Véran also advance that « tobacco companies do not see the arrival of vaping as good news. This is what means vaping is a weaning tool, otherwise they wouldn't worry about it like they do today.« .
"When we talk about vapers, these are already people who are addicted to nicotine since they have consumed tobacco" - Oliver Veran
It is for this reason that we must work on the image of the electronic cigarette in France. William Lowenstein campaigns for: « Vaping and improving the image of vaping", the doctor asks. Etienne Caniard explains for his part that we « equates vaping to tobacco and it therefore has a negative image, but it is undoubtedly a tool to reduce« the consumption of conventional cigarettes.
The classic cigarette kills because it is composed of toxic products for health, and because it is consumed by the combustion of these products, such as tar. This is not the case with the electronic cigarette. « Electronic cigarette does not contain carbon monoxide, carcinogens or particles", explains Marion Adler.
William Lowenstein specifies that there is not, in the vapoteuse, « what kills« . « Some studies show that there is a 95% reduction in risk« when vaping instead of smoking, according to the doctor.
WHAT ABOUT ADDICTION AND POSSIBLE HARMFUL EFFECTS?
When a smoker replaces regular cigarettes with vaping, they are not addressing the problem of nicotine addiction. The addiction still exists but « when we talk about vapers, these are already people who are addicted to nicotine since they have consumed tobacco", explains Olivier Véran. And the most harmful to health is not nicotine, it is « the phenomenon of combustion which causes bronchial lesions and cancerous lesions« .
The goal is for vaping to be a transition. « It is a step but it is already a reduction of the risks« , insists William Lowenstein. Of the two and a half million French people who vape, half have become ex-smokers. Marion Adler specifies that she « obviously does not advise anyone to take an electronic cigarette if they are non-smokers", but that for smokers, it is a transition tool to use for a complete cessation of smoking.
In France, the precautionary principle enshrined in the Constitution means that even if we are convinced that a product has beneficial effects on health, they must be demonstrated by evidence. Olivier Véran explains that « progresses enormously on this point« construction of evidence, but that it is not yet completed today. He is pointing out that " the reports of the different countries do not all agree« currently. We must wait for the results of new studies on the possible toxic and harmful effects of the electronic cigarette on health.
