Thread by @ColinMendelsohn

1/There is so much wrong with this article

▪️Only anti-vaping views quoted
▪️Extensive misinformation not challenged
▪️No alternative views offered

Can I have a right of reply @Dana_Adele

Thread...
smh.com.au/politics/feder…

2/ nicotine is highly addictive

The addictiveness of nicotine depends on how it is delivered. Smoking is highly addictive due to rapid nicotine delivery and other chemicals in smoke. Vaping is significantly less addictive than smoking

3/ doctors should be focused on getting people off cigarettes and nicotine completely

Ideally yes. But many smokers can't quit nicotine and switching to a safer alternative is lifesaving. The focus of #THR is reducing disease, not ceasing nicotine

bit.ly/3iZko1F

4/ Effectiveness is not proven

What?
A recent meta-anaysis of RCTs found that vaping is 70% more effective than NRT bit.ly/304SfyK. Effectiveness is supported by observational studies, population studies and declines in national smoking rates

bit.ly/3hX5ojm

5/They actually get young people into smoking

If there is a gateway into smoking from vaping it is very small. The motorway out of smoking is much greater
The benefit to public health in helping smokers quit far exceeds any potential gateway in

colinmendelsohn.com.au/wp-content/upl…

6/ it might be 'just' better than smoking

What!
There is OVERWHELMING evidence that vaping is FAR safer than smoking due to a dramatic reduction in inhaled toxins, biomarkers and clinical improvements
bit.ly/2G0T5FE

7/ And the dangers are really quite profound

What dangers?
Not one person has died from nicotine vaping yet 8 million die every year from smoking. Serious effects are extremely rare

8/ doctors would face a difficult task assessing if patients
have another motivation to vape

Vaping by non smokers is rare, <0.7% in Australia. Regular vaping is almost exclusively used by smokers to quit or reduce smoking or reduce harm from smoking

aihw.gov.au/reports/illici…

9/ No products are TGA approved

This is because nicotine liquid is not a medicine. It is a consumer product designed to replace another consumer product, deadly smoking. No western country requires medicines-standard assessment by the Medicines Regulator
bit.ly/365HShQ

10/ The aim has got to be to get the patient off the nicotine addiction

No. The aim is to reduce the death and illness from smoking. Nicotine dependence on its own is of relatively minor importance. Once the patient has stopped smoking, your job as a doctor is over

11/ a potentially harmful poison

All chemicals are 'potentially' harmful. Vaping nicotine is substantially less risky than smoking which it replaces. Harm from low concentrations of nicotine liquid for vaping is extremely rare

12/ The most important thing is calling the Quitline

Quitline helps some people, but was used by only 1.8% of Aussie smokers in 2019. Vaping is by far the world's most popular quitting aid and has a much higher reach and pubic health impact

13/ all of the nation's peak cancer bodies oppose vaping

Why?
Vaping has <0.5% of the cancer risk from smoking. Nicotine does not cause cancer. Carcinogens are greatly reduced compared to smoking and biomarkers are much lower in vapers

Suggest @CR_UK bit.ly/30146xS

14/ a potential pathway to smoking by youth

▪️The evidence does not support a significant pathway
▪️Most youth vaping is experimental
▪️Smoking usually precedes vaping
▪️Regular vaping rare in never-smokers
▪️Vaping diverts young people FROM smoking

bit.ly/3mMkOL1