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Letter: Do your homework before vaping, advises medical officer of health

If you don’t smoke, don’t vape. If you do smoke, consider quitting with the help of proven methods
vaping
(File)

Editor's note: The following is a submission from Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, medical officer of health and CEO, Public Health Sudbury & Districts, in response to managing editor Mark Gentili's column, titled, “Vaping isn’t the demon Canada’s health sector wants you to think it is".

Your recent column, “Vaping isn’t the demon Canada’s health sector wants you to think it is” (Nov. 28, 2019), gave us reason to pause and consider where Public Health stands on the balance of facts and opinions related to vaping. 

For certain, our facts-based knowledge is evolving. Even more certainly, our health-based opinion leads us to err on the side of precautionary advice to protect health. This preoccupation is transparent and steadfast.

Like many in the health system, Public Health Sudbury & Districts provides hands-on support to help people become tobacco-free. Nicotine is a powerfully addictive chemical. The people who try to quit know this. 

With 1.8 million daily smokers in Ontario and over 1 million Ontarians who try to quit each year, it is no secret that quit attempts are long frustrating journeys with many false starts. Enter the appeal of e-cigarettes for those who are trying to quit. 

Sadly, however, the evidence of e-cigarettes’ effectiveness in quitting smoking pales in comparison with proven methods of cessation, like nicotine replacement therapy, counselling, or even cold-turkey.

In the face of our evolving knowledge of potential health risks, it is alarming to learn that many e-cigarettes users have never smoked tobacco. E-cigarettes for these people are not being used to quit smoking. E-cigarettes in these instances put people at health risk and further, there is evidence that e-cigarette use increases the risk for youths to start smoking.

Health providers, parents, educators, and even some e-cigarette manufacturers, agree that people who do not use tobacco should not be exposed to e-cigarettes. If you don’t smoke, don’t vape. Ask yourself who may benefit from countless new recruits to nicotine addiction.

By the numbers: in 2017, 23 per cent of Canadian youth (15–19) and 29 per cent of young adults (20–24) reported having tried an e-cigarette. In 2018, the youth number increased by 74 per cent. Data takes time to gather, validate, and analyze, but there is no reason to expect a different trend for 2019. 

And to the extent that e-cigarette use even has the potential to promote tobacco use among people who do not smoke, particularly youth, the numbers for the costs associated with tobacco are a shrill wake-up call. Forty-four (44) Ontarians die every day of tobacco-related causes. Added to this human tragedy is the financial burden of $7 billion in annual provincial health care and indirect costs. This tragedy is preventable.

On the balance of facts and health-based opinions, the conclusions are the same. If you don’t smoke, don’t vape. If you do smoke, consider quitting with the help of proven methods (nicotine replacement therapy, medication, one-on-one support). If all else fails, and with medical advice, consider giving e-cigarettes a try. They may be safer than cigarettes, which kill half of all their long-term users. And finally, if you do vape, don’t also smoke.

Get informed. And where the science is still evolving, make explicit transparent decisions to take back control and protect your health.

Dr. Penny Sutcliffe
Medical Officer of Health and CEO
Public Health Sudbury & Districts