Vaping a Source of Tobacco Harm Reduction
All tobacco products and some liquids for e-cigarettes include the chemical nicotine. The tobacco plant is the main source of this highly addictive chemical. Nicotine can also be synthesized in laboratories.
Nowadays these electronic cigarettes also known as e-cigarettes or vapes which come in attractive packaging are marketed as a risk-free substitute for conventional cigarettes.
A battery-powered gadget called an electronic cigarette releases a vaporized substance for inhalation. E-cigarettes, e-hookahs, vaporizer cigarettes, vapes, and vape pens are some of the names for these gadgets.
They can take on a variety of forms. Some resemble USB devices, while others resemble pens, for instance.
Young people who are unaware of this new method for low risk smoking are quickly misusing low-tar, medium-nicotine cigarettes. They are experimenting with vaping at colleges and schools, a major concern for parents that this could pose a severe health risk to these young people as much as it is a substitute for quitting smoking.
Vaping poses only a small fraction of the harms associated with smoking, according to Clive Bates, Director of Action on Smoking and Health UK, who was speaking to media professionals at the virtual Ask Me Informative Session on Tobacco Harm Reduction. “The long-term health hazards connected with e-cigarettes cannot be accurately quantified, however the research available indicates that they are likely to be less than or equal to 5% of those associated with tobacco products that are smoked,” he said.
E-cigarette use is not without risk, though. In 2019, experts discovered a relationship between vaping and the emergence of a serious lung condition now known as e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury, or EVALI. According to the CDC, by February 2020, medical professionals had identified 2,807 Trusted Source cases and 68 fatal instances of this illness. Investigations are still being conducted.
According to Bates, when smokers smoke, what they actually desire is the nicotine and the nicotine-related feeling. Contrary to popular assumption, nicotine is not the component in tobacco that causes sickness. He also claimed that the chemicals released during combustion have a detrimental impact on public health rather than nicotine.
“Smoking is done for the nicotine, but the tar kills. People smoke because they are addicted to nicotine, and there is a high demand for nicotine. No matter how we feel about it, people need nicotine. We now have a variety of products that can provide people with nicotine but without the tar, the combustion, or the smoke, which is where technology comes into play. The act of smoking involves breathing in combustion byproducts. A tough stance on vaping encourages people to smoke combustible tobacco.”
Dr. Kgosi Letlape, the founder of the African Harm Reduction Alliance commented, “there aren’t any current or relevant tobacco policies in Africa.
“The WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), as it is known, was essentially accepted in 2023. Only one non-combustible product was available on the market at the time the FCTC was enacted. Either chewing it or crushing it and putting it in your mouth would provide nicotine. They were referred to as smokeless tobacco. There were negative effects of smokeless tobacco, such as oral malignancies.”
“Taking into consideration the FTCT, it is incorrect to utilize it as a framework to examine alternatives to combustible cigarettes. Article 1 D of the FTCT discusses harm reduction in light of the difficulties brought on by tobacco products. If you fast-track to the present, the FCTC as it is cannot be applied to the products with lower risk. Any well-intentioned country should consider a framework for properly regulating RRPs. Regulation is essential, but it must be supported by data and scientific principles.”
Africa has a challenging task: it must establish policies that promote harm reduction, find a strategy to lower youth nicotine consumption, and educate them about the harm that nicotine causes to their bodies.
