This week we have seen many articles posted by various sites stating that eCigarettes lead to hard illegal drugs. However the findings are far from scientific and there is a lot of hear say, the conclusion made by Professor Eric Kandel and his wife even states “We don’t yet know whether e-cigarettes will prove to be a gateway to the use of conventional cigarettes and illicit drugs, but that’s certainly a possibility.” Which doesn’t seem to conclude anything, yet many websites are saying that eCigarettes are a gateway drug and it is proven in this study.
These finding are taken as fact by many, and eCigarettes are again being attacked by people who want to see them banned, even though they are helping so many ex-smokers. Letting non-smokers ban the use of eCigarettes is like letting people who do not suffer with diabetes to ban insulin.
There are several points made in the report, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which seem inaccurate and opinionated rather than scientific fact.
The findings state that it is the ‘pure nicotine’ used in eLiquid that will act as a gateway drug, pushing people closer to hard illegal drugs and yet regular cigarettes seem to have a pass on the matter. If cigarettes contain the same nicotine as eLiquid, then how come regular cigarettes are not classed as a gateway drug. The study was also carried out on mice using 100% pure nicotine, not using eLiquid. They say it’s the same pure nicotine used in eLiquid, but within eLiquid the amount of nicotine actually inhaled is very little. In fact the most popular nicotine strength eLiquid Vvaopour sell is 6mg per 15ml of eliquid, which is less nicotine in equivalent to most cigarettes. We also have found when people start vaping, they gradually order less and less nicotine concentrations, lowering there dependency on nicotine and helping them STOP smoking. We have not found these people are going to buy cocaine or heroin like the ‘scientific’ report suggests (lol).
What We KNOW!
Many of you will agree, eCigarettes have proved time and time again that they are the most effective way to quit smoking on a long term basis. People who have smoked for years have now broken there addiction to smoking, cutting down nicotine to a bare minimum, as well as completely cutting out there consumption of tar and other toxins found in analogue cigarettes. People have STOPPED there dependency, rather than creating a new dependency on harder drugs.
We also know that nicotine, is nicotine. The same nicotine found in eCigarettes are also found in cigarettes. Any dependancy on illegal drugs caused by nicotine (if any) will still be caused in cigarettes as well as eCigarettes. Attacking eCigarettes for nicotine, but not regular cigarettes, is not excatly a ‘scientific study’ yet the daily mail, huffington post, itv, the guardian and many more sites are stating that ‘eCigarettes Lead To Hard Illegal Drugs’ and taking this statement as proven fact. There are some sites, like pharmiweb for example, who also concur that these findings are non-sense and non-scientific.
David Nutt Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London even stated “This is another example of journal press offices making routine studies ‘news’ by distorting the data interpretation.”
We all know nicotine is addictive and it doesn’t improve our health, but the fact remains eCigarettes help people to quit cigarettes, and cigarettes contain a lot more harmful substances as well as nicotine. We do not believe eCigarettes are a gateway to cigarettes, but a gateway FROM cigarettes to a healthier alternative. If you can quit smoking without help then that would be wise, if you need help eCigarettes are the most effective method of quitting. Spouting lies like this report just prevents some smokers getting the help they need and want. If you have any say in the matter then please comment below, we would love to hear what you think. The study was posted by the New England Journal of Medicine.