What are the risks and benefits of using e-cigarettes?
It is the burning of tobacco that is harmful to the health of smokers, not nicotine. The dangers of electronic cigarettes are infinitely less than those of tobacco, since their vapor contains neither carbon monoxide, nor tars, nor fine particles. The characteristics of the e-cigarette should always be compared with those of the conventional cigarette, and if doubts and debates persist about the perfect long-term safety of some of its components, they should be faced with the absolute certainty of the dangerousness of tobacco. In the meantime, we know that the electronic cigarette is less addictive than the classic cigarette and that it contributes to a rapid or gradual withdrawal from tobacco.
What are the misconceptions circulating about electronic cigarettes?
These are the ideas conveyed by the September issue of the magazine 60 million consumers (like what “the vapors emitted by some electronic cigarettes contain very unsavory substances”, Editor’s note). In their report, they failed to talk about the fact that they did not find tar, carbon monoxide or fine particles in e-cigarettes. However, it is these substances that are very harmful to health. This negligence on the part of 60 million consumers is scandalous.
What do you hope to achieve with your “Appeal for Medical Recognition of Electronic Cigarettes”?
We are ten doctors from all specialties, concerned by tobacco damage, to have signed this call. Our goal is for the electronic cigarette to be recognized as an effective way to quit smoking and for our colleagues to be able to integrate it and offer it to their patients, as advocated by the report and expert opinion on the e-cigarette of L. ‘French Office for the Prevention of Smoking, published in May 2013. What we want, and which corresponds to France’s official position, is for the system to remain free in Europe and favorable to research.
In your opinion, how should the e-cigarette be framed?
“Frame”, this word is on everyone’s lips, while the electronic cigarette is no more additive than sugar and no more dangerous than a Mars bar or a cup of coffee. If we do not vote a decree for each fatty and sweet product that is sold today, I do not see why we should “regulate” the e-cigarette.
Are you going to continue to mobilize after the decree is voted?
Today, we have 14 million smokers and 1.5 million vapers in France. There is still work to be done. For this, I intend to publish proposals to help smokers on my personal website and continue the awareness-raising work concerning my colleagues to widen the circle of doctors who advocate electronic cigarettes. This is the most serious public health problem in the world, I am not going to give up.
