Charles A. Gardner, PhD Profile picture
Apr 14, 2021 34 tweets 15 min read Read on X
1/32
The following respected scientific & public health organizations, with no industry ties, have reviewed the evidence and made public statements on the relative risk of #SaferNicotine vapes vs. toxic tobacco. There's rather a lot of them.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Ty7pgR…
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2/32
Apparently, WHO EURO disagrees with @WHO @FCTCofficial. Weird.
3/32
WHO IARC thinks everything causes cancer. But they say nicotine vapes are safer than deadly cigarettes.
4/32
Cochrane is the global gold standard for rigorous evidence reviews in all fields of public health (not just tobacco control). Their review of the evidence found that nicotine vapes really do help smokers quit.
5/32
Public Health England speaks for the entire health service of the UK government (which @exposetobacco says is among those least influenced by big tobacco). Quite extraordinary that @FCTCofficial continues to contradict this finding.
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The Royal College of Physicians was the first major public health organization on Earth to officially sound the alarm about cigarettes, back in the 1960s. They looked at all the evidence, and continue to review the evidence, and have not changed their verdict.
7/32
NICE is the UK health service's research-based agency that tests evidence for safety and effectiveness of health products and services.
8/32
The British Medical Association agrees: Safer.
9/32
Cancer Research UK agrees: Far safer and effective for smoking cessation. No harms from 2nd hand vapor.
10/32
The British Lung Foundation agrees: Safer. And switching to these safer alternatives reduces symptoms of asthma and COPD.
11/32
The Royal College of General Practitioners represents all GPs in the UK. Toxins in nicotine vapor are "well below the threshhold for concern."
12/32
The Royal Society for Public Health agrees with Public Health England and all the others above. At least 95% safer, and effective for smoking cessation.
13/32
The UK Stroke Association agrees. They say "in the short term" because nicotine vapes have only been used safely for 15 years. Hedging their bets.
14/32
Action on Smoking and Health UK is a fierce opponent of big tobacco. They agree nicotine vapes are >95% safer than smoking, and lower cancer risk by 99.5%. They also note that misinformation is causing the public to be increasing misinformed about relative risks.
15/32
The UK's National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training agrees: Far safer than smoking. They point out the FACT that nicotine does not cause smoking-related cancer, heart or lung disease (NOTE: 80% of US doctors believe, incorrectly, the opposite).
16/32
Everyone who's anyone in Scotland agrees. Nicotine vaping is less harmful than smoking. The signatories are what puts this list to well over 35+ respected scientific and public health organizations.
17/32
Moving on to New Zealand: The Ministry of Health embraces nicotine vapes as an effective way to help Kiwi's quit smoking. Vaping is not a gateway to smoking (#GatewayMyth), and may accelerate the decline in teen smoking.
18/32
New Zealand's Cancer Society agrees. Which means they, along with the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer, and Cancer Research UK, all disagree with the American Cancer Society's current recommendations (more on those below).
@AmericanCancer
19/32
Physicians in OZ & NZ who work with People Living with #Schizophrenia, #BipolarDisorder and other #Neurodiversity issues disagree with the Govt of Australia's rigid position against #SaferNicotine.
20/32
So... Not surprisingly, nurses who work with People who use drugs and alcohohl in Australasia agree. They see the horrendous health toll of smoking every day. Nicotine vapes are "a legitimate form of #HarmReduction."
21/32
The Govt of Australia takes an extreme dogmatic negative approach to #SaferNicotine (unless it's in patches and gum). But the Royal Australian College of Physicians does, grudgingly, accept that e-cigarettes may save lives.
22/32
So, we've covered multinational, UK, New Zealand and Australia. What does Germany say? Hard to get a clear reading there, but the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has a statement: "Less harmful."
23/32
Now that we're back in the EU, what about the French? The French National Academy of Medicine says "safer than smoking." The High Authority for Health says "effective for smoking cessation." Santé Publique France says loads of French smokers have quit this way.
24/32
The French National Academy of Pharmacy was a bit more forceful on this, criticizing the @WHO's anti-vaping position as "incompréhensible." But this is just a Tweet. I have not found an official public statement (yet). Let me know if you do. They don't mince words.
25/32
Next the USA: The US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicing reviewed ALL data on nicotine vape safety, and issued a report in 2018. "LESS HARMFUL" and "SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER TOXINS" than combustible cigarettes stand out.
26/32
@US_FDA embraces "a continuum of risk" (which many tobacco control experts oddly reject). FDA wants to restrict nicotine in cigarettes to near zero, while keeping #SaferNicotine alternatives available.
27/32
The @CDCgov gave us "EVALI" (2019 lung injuries that were caused by bootleg THC vapes, which @CDCTobaccoFree blamed on nicotine vapes, or "e-cigarettes"). But they do admit nicotine vapes are safer than smoking. A bit grudgingly.
28/32a
The American Cancer Society KNOWS cancer risk from nicotine vaping is far lower than smoking. Here, however, you can see how public health "experts" wobble on WHAT TO TELL THE PUBLIC. Teen vaping increased, so they changed their recommendation to adults....
28/32b
Now that teen nicotine vaping has plummeted, perhaps it's time for @AmericanCancer to revise its recommendation... Again... Recommendations from respected professional societies like ACS really do affect adult smokers' and vapers' behavior. And smoking really does kill.
29/32
American @American_Heart recently put out a Press Release: Biomarkers for heart risk in exclusive vapers are indistinguishable from never-smokers. But the headline on that Press Release was "People who vape AND smoke have the same risk as smokers." This is odd.
30/32
American Association of Public Health Physicians gives us the big picture. #SaferNicotine vapes are just one tool in the armamentarium of options that SHOULD be available because they are safer than smoking, and smokers should have all options to quit.
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Believe it or not, grudgingly said, with a lot of "coulds" and "ifs." ...Might help people not die.
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Last, but by far not least, the Government of Canada has this official public statement: Nicotine vaping is "less harmful than smoking." Very clear.
CODA: Please let me know if you are aware of other official statements from respected non-tobacco scientific and public health organizations, and governments around the world.

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More from @ChaunceyGardner

Apr 17
Welcome to How to Lie with Percentages 101
This seems like a minor point in @FDATobacco Director King's recent Op/Ed in Nature. Here is a quote:

"In 2021, 11.3% of high-school students used e-cigarettes, compared with 4.5% of adults."

It's misleading in 4 ways.
(1/6) 👇Image
(2/6)
First, it's not 2021 anymore. The latest data from the @CDCgov NYTS and NHIS surveys are easily available to the authors.

In 2023, 10% of US high school students vape nicotine "at least once in the past month." And 7% of adults do so "daily or some days."
(3/6)
2nd, why high school? The 2023 average for all US middle and high school students is 7.7%.


7.0% of all US adults vape nicotine as of Q3 2023.


Very similar. How awkward is THAT?cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/7…
wwwn.cdc.gov/NHISDataQueryT…
Read 6 tweets
Apr 2
Humans have been burning leaves of the tobacco plant, and inhaling the smoke, for well over 8,000 years now.

It had ceremonial purposes, presumably when nicotine's psychoactive effects were needed: increased focus, attention and memory.

THREAD 👇 Image
(2)
For thousands of years, tobacco leaf smoking was only a thing in the Americas.

In the Old World plenty of people smoked, but not tobacco leaves. THEY smoked cannabis or opium.


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(3)
Then THIS guy, Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), brought tobacco leaves back to England from the New World.

He was beheaded in 1618... but not for smoking. The Spanish Ambassador demanded it, so King James approved it.

Smoking caught on in England and the Old World. Image
Read 14 tweets
Mar 21
Congratulations. You have invited PAVE to tell you about the dangers of vaping. Here's a head's up on what they are going to tell you....

THREAD
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(2)
"Middle school use is up."

#FactCheck: MISLEADING. Middle & high school nicotine vaping dropped 61% over the past 4 years. 1.9% of teens vape nicotine daily, so may be 'hooked' (down >50% in the past 4 years).

2019:
2023: cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/6…
cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/7…Image
(3)
"More than 1 in 4 teens use e-cigarettes daily."

#FactCheck: FALSE. 7.7% of middle & high schoolers vape nicotine "at least once in the past 30 days."

Of THOSE, 25.2% (1 in 4) vape daily = 1.9%. So 1 in 53 vape nicotine daily. Not 1 in 4.
cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/7…
Read 18 tweets
Jan 6
Consider "the Standard Narrative" *pushed* by tobacco control:

• Whole new generation addicted to nicotine
• E-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking
• Ecig use increased exponentially, especially among teens
• They target teens
• Nicotine harms developing brains

(1/X) 👇🧵👇Image
(1a) Where is this "whole new generation addicted to nicotine"?
In the USA, teen nicotine USE is lower today than at any time in the past 50 years.
#FactCheckMe: @CDCgov and @NIH survey dataImage
(1b) Where is this "whole new generation "addicted" to nicotine"?
The above numbers do not measure "addiction." For that, we need to look at frequent and daily use.
#FactCheckMe: @CDCgov survey dataImage
Read 17 tweets
Dec 18, 2023
Daily Brain Harm News
15 past-Presidents of the top professional society in tobacco control call "nicotine brain harm" claims "speculative" because there is no human evidence.

Yet @CDCgov continues to tell the public "nicotine harms developing brains" is a known fact.

THREAD 👇Image
(2)
How do we sort that all out? First, we should consider what actually can, tragically, cause permanent life-long harm to developing brains.

- under-nutrition
- toxic stress factors (neglect, abuse, loss of parents,
and exposure to violence) Image
(3)
Next, we should consider the evidence "nicotine harms developing brains":

Young rats have subtle reversible brain changes (not necessarily harms) that are comparable to changes caused by caffeine.

This is the evidence used to claim nicotine is a "brain poison."


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Read 10 tweets
Oct 8, 2022
This VERY common "mistake" is a direct consequence of the way CDC & FDA present teen vaping data.

It confuses journalists, the public and members of Congress.

@CDCDirector Walensky & @FDACommissioner @DrCaliff_FDA: I demand you STOP reporting Daily Use as a % of 'current use'.
(2)
Here is example #2 @CDCDirector Walensky and @DrCaliff_FDA. Another "trusted" source telling the public 1 in 4 teens use ecigs daily.

The reason this is happening is clear: You present the data in a deliberately confusing way (daily use as a percentage of 'current use').
(3)
Example #3 @CDCDirector Walensky and @DrCaliff_FDA. The way CDC and FDA communicate US teen vaping numers to the public is demonstrably confusing.
Read 9 tweets

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