« Where are we with the e-cigarette? "This is the question that the newspaper" Le Figaro "asked itself today, the answer is provided by Professor Gérard Dubois, member of the National Academy of Medicine and emeritus professor of public health.
The principle of the e-cigarette is to produce, by gentle heating, an aerosol of propylene glycol or glycerol, with or without nicotine. Invented in China by Hon Lik in 2006, the electronic cigarette is available in a market that has grown dramatically and is estimated to 3 million the number of French “vapers” in 2014.
The aerosol or "vapor", emitted by the e-cigarette, does not contain toxic substances related to the burning of conventional cigarettes such as carbon monoxide (cause of heart attack) or tars (causes of cancer). Propylene glycol, also used as a food additive, has no short-term toxicity at the temperature of 60 degrees.
As for the degradation of glycerol into toxic products, it is only significant above 250 degrees. Nicotine is associated with tobacco addiction, but here it is alone and devoid of products that enhance its effects. Thus the deleterious consequences of this practice are much lower than those of cigarette smoke. A study concludes with the harmful effects for exposures of one to eight weeks while tobacco smoke would have a comparable effect in one day! We may therefore be surprised at the alarmist warnings. There seems to be general agreement that this product is infinitely less dangerous than traditional cigarettes..
The electronic cigarette with nicotine
A review of thirteen existing studies shows that the electronic cigarette with nicotine is twice as likely to lead to a complete cessation of at least six months as that without nicotine and that more smokers had reduced their consumption by more than half.
consumption without serious adverse events. The e-cigarette is not recommended today by any official organization but "The High Authority for Health, on the other hand, considers that, because of its much less toxicity than a cigarette, its use by a smoker who has started vaping and who wants to stop smoking should not be discouraged"It is estimated that 400.000 smokers have stopped smoking in France in 2015 thanks to the electronic cigarette. The electronic cigarette thus helps to help smokers to get rid of tobacco.
The electronic cigarette has become a fashionable object that could tempt minors, but the study carried out in Paris is rather reassuring. Even by adding the different sources of nicotine (tobacco plus e-cigarettes), their use by Parisian college students is declining. The e-cigarette therefore does not appear to be a method of initiating young people into smoking. but it cannot be intended for children and adolescents and, as for tobacco, its sale must be prohibited to minors as stipulated by the Hamon law of March 2014.
The public use of e-cigarettes is difficult to distinguish from that of conventional cigarettes and can therefore encourage people to no longer comply with smoking bans. There is a broad consensus among public health actors to demand a ban on the use of e-cigarettes in all places where smoking is prohibited.
Regulate the manufacture of e-cigarettes
Advertising campaigns, including on French television, have already started, aimed indiscriminately at smokers, non-smokers, children and adolescents. It is therefore obvious that all advertising and promotion of this product must be prohibited, except in its use as a method of stopping if it is recognized.
Declines in 2012, 2013 and 2014 sales of cigarettes can not be due to insufficient price increases, and it is therefore likely that declines in traditional cigarette sales in France since 2012 are related to the rapid increase in sales of electronic cigarettes.
The National Academy of Medicine recommended in March 2015 to regulate the manufacture of the e-cigarette in order to ensure its reliability (standard Afnor), not to dissuade smokers who use it and to promote the emergence of a “drug” e-cigarette, to maintain and ensure the application of the ban on sale to minors, its use in public wherever it is forbidden to smoke tobacco, to ban all advertising and promotion.
Public Health England indicated in August 2015 that electronic cigarettes were 95% less harmful than tobacco smoke, that there was no evidence that the electronic cigarette served as a gateway to youth smoking, had contributed to the decline in smoking among adults and youth. The reimbursement of an electronic cigarette has since been decided.
Propaganda and advertising
La law 26 January 2016 banned in France from the 20 May 2016 direct or indirect propaganda or advertising in favor of electronic vaping devices as well as any sponsorship or sponsorship operation. It prohibits vaping 
in certain places (schools, closed means of public transport, closed and covered workplaces for collective use), but not all those where smoking is prohibited. As for tobacco, proof of majority must be requested from the buyer.
The opinion of the High Council for Public Health of February 22, 2016 recognizes electronic cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid, as a risk reduction method and requires reflection on a medicalized electronic cigarette (enriched with nicotine). It recommends a ban on vaping anywhere where smoking is prohibited, including bars, restaurants and nightclubs.
The electronic cigarette was first developed by talented enthusiasts and the craze of smokers made it impossible to turn back the clock. It has established itself in a rapidly growing market. Obviously, despite publicized but ill-founded questioning, the toxicity of e-cigarettes is much lower than that of tobacco smoke. It does not participate in an initiation to smoking for children and adolescents. It is almost exclusively used by smokers or former smokers who fear reoffending. Its effectiveness in stopping smoking seems to be asserting itself and it has contributed, at least in France and England, to a drop in tobacco sales. However, legislation and regulations currently being put in place are necessary to guarantee the safety of a product popular with smokers and to modulate its use. The e-cigarette is therefore a useful tool for reducing tobacco mortality and morbidity.
Source : Le Figaro
