E-CIGARETTES MORE EFFECTIVE THAN NICOTINE PATCHES

Person smashing cigarettes using a vape device 678x404

NZ REPORT – December 19th, 2014 at 12:00 pm by David Farrar

The Herald reports:
Electronic cigarettes are more effective at helping smokers to quit tobacco when they contain nicotine, a review of studies has found.

The review by the international Cochrane Collaboration includes two trials in which smokers were randomised to groups using different kinds of electronic cigarettes or quit-smoking therapy. One of these trials was based at Auckland University, the other in Italy.

An e-cigarette is a battery-powered device which, when the user takes a drag, produces a vapour. They can be run with or without nicotine.

Dr Chris Bullen, an author of the Cochrane review and a researcher on the Auckland University trial, which followed participants for six months, said the trial found 7.3 per cent of those using e-cigarettes containing nicotine had quit tobacco. The quit rate was 5.8 per cent in the nicotine patches group and 4.1 per cent among those using non-nicotine e-cigarettes.

If your aim is to reduce smoking rates, then you should support e-cigarettes.
Quote: [But other studies have found that smokers who switched to e-cigarettes were less likely or no more likely to quit than if they used a patch or gum.]

Let’s put this in context – The patch study had verified long-term (over 6 months) quit rates of 7.3% for e-cigarettes, and 5.8% for patches. That’s actually a 42.34% increase in effectiveness for e-cigarettes over patches. However, real science doesn’t present results showing an increase, especially when the total difference of 1.5% is statistically insignificant. The sad thing is that if the results were reversed in favor of the patch, we know the pharma companies would be touting the 42.34% difference in their current marketing campaigns.

In general, when reading articles such as this one that quote the CDC / ALA / WHO and various other “health” organizations, the main thing to consider is this: Much of their funding requires an epidemic level of combustible tobacco use so that they can justify spending on studies, education, and media campaigns to combat the public evil of tobacco. If vapor product technologies are allowed to continue to be advances, combustible tobacco use could be virtually eliminated in the next 2 or 3 decades. This is something they fear as it threatens their livelihood, and for some of them, their very purpose in the public sector.

Follow the money, and the reason for the attacks on vapor products by “health” organizations and professionals becomes clear.

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