GFN Considers Vape Misconceptions

“Pervasive misconceptions about safer nicotine products and their role in smoking cessation could see tobacco harm reduction fail to fulfil its huge potential,” said the organisers of The Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN25).

The event, the twelfth one, saw global experts tackling a barrier that continues to undermine efforts to reduce the annual 8 million premature deaths related to smoking: misinformation and miscommunication about safer nicotine products and tobacco harm reduction (THR). 

Organisers of the GFN25 continued: “While science increasingly supports safer nicotine products like vapes, snus, pouches and heated tobacco as tools to help smokers switch away from combustibles (1-6), fear-driven narratives continue to dominate media and policy.”

In a keynote lecture Jacob Grier, a journalist covering tobacco policy who has written for Slate and The Atlantic, talked about the disconnect between the evidence for tobacco harm reduction and the fact that hostile media narratives are shaping public opinion and health policies. How can impactful, evidence-based messaging be built that respects both reduced-risk products and consumer autonomy?

“Obviously we need to emphasise credible research. The bad news is that having the facts on our side is clearly not enough,” Grier said. “Journalists seek novelty, so if something isn't new, it isn't news. Millions of people dying from smoking isn't a story, but a few dozen people dying from adulterated [THC or cannabis] vapes (7) generates months of media coverage.”

According to Riccardo Polosa, a professor of medicine at the University of Catania in Italy, the World Health Organization (WHO) is actively misleading the public about the relative risk of nicotine products compared to cigarettes (8) on purpose.

“They select their references and distort the evidence. There is one single objective, in my opinion, which is to create their own science that supports the abstinence-only narrative,” he said. “But this has terrible consequences for millions of smokers who would otherwise switch to much less harmful products. In the clinical world, this would be called negligence.”

A special session marked 20 years of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), in which leading voices examined the treaty’s impact.

“The FCTC has succeeded politically and legally,” said Jeannie Cameron, a policy consultant. “But if we measure success by reductions in smoking and tobacco-related deaths, it has failed.”

Derek Yach, a former WHO director commented: “We still have over a billion smokers worldwide. The FCTC was meant to reduce cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Tobacco harm reduction is the obvious way to stop this crisis in its tracks.”

It is well established that nicotine does not cause smoking-related diseases, which result instead from the inhalation of toxicants in tobacco smoke (1). Vapes, pouches, pasteurised snus and heated tobacco products (HTPs) all deliver nicotine without combustion, leading to substantially reduced health risks in comparison to continued smoking. High quality independent evidence supporting the role of safer nicotine products in smoking cessation is growing, including in recent Cochrane Reviews (2).

The conference organisers say: “The Global Forum on Nicotine is organised by Global Forum on Nicotine Limited, an events company committed to providing a platform for global public health debate, knowledge exchange and networking, underpinned by the principles of inclusiveness and multi-sectoral engagement.”

“The Global Forum on Nicotine is the only global event that welcomes all stakeholders involved with new and safer nicotine products, including consumers and consumer advocates, public health experts, policy analysts, parliamentarians and government officials, academics and researchers, product manufacturers and distributors and media representatives.”

“The Global Forum on Nicotine does not receive sponsorship from manufacturers, distributors or retailers of nicotine products including pharmaceutical, vaping and tobacco companies. Conference-supporting organisations endorse the event but have no financial or administrative involvement in organisation of the event.”

References:

1. https://www.rcp.ac.uk/improving-care/resources/nicotine-without-smoke-tobacco-harm-reduction/
2. https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub9/full#CD010216-abs-0002
3. https://gsthr.org/media-centre/major-new-report-shows-global-transition-from-smoking-to-safer-products-is-underway-authors-call-for-regulation-not-prohibition-to-drive-down-tobacco-related-deaths/
4. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.70032
5. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/single-use-vapes-ban
6. https://gsthr.org/faq-smoking-and-nicotine/nicotine-vaping-products/which-countries-have-banned-the-sale-of-nicotine-vaping-products-e-cigarettes/
7. https://ecigintelligence.com/france-is-next-eu-country-poised-to-ban-disposable-vapes-amid-regulatory-push/
8. https://filtermag.org/vape-scaremongering-science-media/
9. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.16097
10. https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-world-health-organisation-qa-on-electronic-cigarettes/

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV

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Dave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.