10.2. SR 09-08-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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10 nicotine products in England concluded 36: Evidence conflicts with the view that electronic cigarettes are undermining tobacco control or ‘renormalizing’ smoking, and they may be contributing to a reduction in smoking prevalence through increased success at quitting smoking The more plausible and obvious hypothesis is that e-cigarettes will function as an alternative to smoking; a gateway exit from smoking, and will normalise safer alternatives to smoking. Marketing that looks like cigarette marketing. There have been some objections that some e- cigarette advertising looks like cigarette advertising 37. In fact it is not surprising or undesirable that some advertising looks this way: the advertisers are appealing to smokers to switch smoking behaviour to an alternative to smoking that very much les harmful. If the similar branding adds to the effectiveness of the appeal to smokers, then it is contributing to better health. Note that the use of tobacco brands in e-cigarette marketing (“brand stretching”) is illegal in Europe and most jurisdictions where tobacco advertising is banned – so the only visible brands are rivals to cigarettes. A recent code published in the UK controls e-cigarette advertising in much the same way as alcohol advertising is controlled – this is a proportionate approach 38 and contrasts favourably with the near complete ban to be imposed by the European Union. 3.2.2 Reduced quitting Where this has been studied properly and the results interpreted correctly, there is no sign of e- cigarettes reducing quitting, and nor would a neutral observer expect one 39. The most thorough survey in the world, the Smoking Toolkit Survey for England 40, concluded in January 2015, that: Rates of quitting smoking are higher than in previous years. E-cigarettes may have helped approximately 20,000 smokers to stop last year who would not have stopped otherwise. 3.2.3 Gateway effects Many activists and some public officials have pointed to rising e-cigarette use among adolescents and suggested they pose a ‘gateway’ risk: that they will lead to more smoking. There is no evidence supporting this hypothesis anywhere. In fact e-cigarettes appeal primarily to existing smokers and the ‘value proposition’ they offer is strongest among existing smokers with mounting concern about the health and other costs. This expectation is confirmed by data. For example, the UK Office for National Statistics states 41: E-cigarettes are used almost exclusively by smokers and ex-smokers. Almost none of those who had never smoked cigarettes were e-cigarette users. However, this has not stopped wild misinterpretations of data. For example in 2013, much media coverage was created in the United States over National Youth Tobacco Survey Data showing a rise 36 West R. Brown J, Beard E. Trends in electronic cigarette use in England. Smoking Tool Kit Study. 13 June 2014 [link] 37 See for example: Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, 7 Ways E-Cigarette Companies Are Copying Big Tobacco’s Playbook [link] and de Andrade M & Hastings G, The marketing of e-cigarettes: a UK snapshot, BMJ Blog 6 April 2013 [link] 38 Committee on Advertising Practice, Advertising Code: Electronic Cigarettes, [non-broadcast][broadcast] 39 Letter to WHO Director General Margaret Chan: The importance of dispassionate presentation and interpretation of evidence. 26 June 2104. A letter from 50 scientists addresses some of these claims in more detail [link] 40 West R. Brown J, Beard E. Trends in electronic cigarette use in England. Smoking Tool Kit Study. 15 January 2015 [link] 41 ONS, Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, Adult Smoking Habits in Great Britain, 2013, 25 November 2014 [link]