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@MauriceGSwanson @ATHRA_AU @MailOnline @PHE_uk 1/... Hello Maurice. I’m always interested in the basis and motivation for disputing ‘at least 95% less harmful’ as a basis for communicating relative risks of vaping Vs smoking. Let’s start with the basis.
@MauriceGSwanson @ATHRA_AU @MailOnline @PHE_uk 2/ The figure is (expressed as at likely to be less than 5% of the harm) was also the funding of @RCPLondon in #NicotineWithoutSmoke
@MauriceGSwanson @ATHRA_AU @MailOnline @PHE_uk @RCPLondon 3/ @theNASEM declined to put a number on it but found, on the available evidence (what else is there?) likely to be far less harmful, although more research is needed (when isn’t there?)
@MauriceGSwanson @ATHRA_AU @MailOnline @PHE_uk @RCPLondon @theNASEM 4/ I was once challenged on this by a leading PH Doc. “How can you possibly justify the suggestion that vaping could cause anything like say, 5% of the death of smoking’. Fair point. The toxicant exposure is way lower as demonstrated by several high quality independent studies. 
@MauriceGSwanson @ATHRA_AU @MailOnline @PHE_uk @RCPLondon @theNASEM 5/ I’m especially interested in your remark about health outcomes in Hajek et al. They found improvements in cough and phlegm GREATER among the EC arm than the NRT arm.
@MauriceGSwanson @ATHRA_AU @MailOnline @PHE_uk @RCPLondon @theNASEM 6/ on to motivation. When many smokers and general public already and increasingly (but wrongly) see vaping as at least as harmful as smoking and that this is (naturally) correlated with more smoking and dual use, why risk reinforcing this mistaken and harmful misperception?
@MauriceGSwanson @ATHRA_AU @MailOnline @PHE_uk @RCPLondon @theNASEM 7/ Given that these media accounts greatly increase misperceptions- in this case an egregiously bogus link to cancer risk (Stevens found a 99.5% reduced exposure to carcinogens), what benefits do colleagues hope for when exacerbating misplaced fears?
@MauriceGSwanson @ATHRA_AU @MailOnline @PHE_uk @RCPLondon @theNASEM And as a free bonus to whoever reads this far, here’s a great talk on understanding addiction with some only passing relevance to #vaping half way through. If you don’t find it fascinating and illuminating, I’ll give you your money back.
