The electronic cigarette is not a solution to stop smoking, according to the French health authorities

The Electronic cigarettes “Cannot currently be presented as tools for reducing the risks associated with tobacco”, summarizes, in an opinion published this week, the High Council of Public Health (HCSP), one of the organizations guiding health policies in France. This is the latest response to an old questioning: how far do these “vapers” mark progress compared to conventional cigarettes?

Unlike the latter, electronic cigarettes do not contain tar or carbon monoxide, the two main elements at the origin of countless cancers and cardiovascular diseases linked to smoking. But, more often than not, they are loaded with nicotine, the substance that causes tobacco addiction. And their vapor contains fine particles whose long-term effects are still unknown.

Because of this uncertain status, vapers have, for several years, been the source of controversies that sometimes oppose several authorities. In 2019, the French Academy of Medicine, for example, defended electronic cigarettes against the World Health Organization, L’WHO, who judged them “Unquestionably” harmful.

Not a tool for doctors

It is not all up for debate. There is little doubt that vapers are significantly less dangerous than traditional cigarettes. Conversely, there is a broad consensus to consider that one should not consider the Electronic cigarettes as an “innocent” consumer product. We should therefore not recommend them to a non-smoker.

But, between these two extremes, there is a whole range of unresolved questions. For example, among young people, does the electronic cigarette reduce the risk of starting to smoke or does it, on the contrary, encourage them to take the plunge? Or again, the question addressed this week by the French health authorities: for lack of anything better, should we suggest to a smoker to vape to get him out of his addiction? No, they say, and that’s a hardening. In their previous opinion, five years earlier, they considered that the electronic cigarette could “To be considered as an aid” to reduce its consumption. The health authorities certainly do not exclude that the electronic cigarette can help some smokers to get by on a case-by-case basis, but they refuse to make it a tool for doctors.

A contrary situation in the United Kingdom

This position contrast with the British situation. The United Kingdom is indeed set to become the first country where electronic cigarettes can be prescribed medically and, therefore, partially reimbursed by the health system. This is the consequence of a measure taken in October 2021 by the British government to effectively allow manufacturers of electronic cigarettes to have their vapers approved by the regulator health products.

This decision has, again, caused sharp divisions in the scientific and medical world. The government justified it by the state of scientific studies in progress. But, paradoxically, this is also the argument used in France by the High Council of Public Health not to recommend vaping to smokers who seek to quit.

Inconclusive studies

Who to believe? In fact, studies on the subject are struggling to be conclusive one way or the other, even though they have accumulated in recent years. There is evidence “Moderate” that the electronic cigarette is more effective in quitting smoking than other treatments, such as nicotine substitutes, according to a well-respected organization in the scientific world, Cochrane, which compiles numerous studies on the same subject and regularly updates its conclusions . But these remain cautious and other works of the same type are even less affirmative.

“We did not find any data solid which establish a link between electronic cigarettes and quitting smoking ”, judged in November the authors of a study published in the journal Tobacco Prevention & Cessation. This work, like that of Cochrane, compiles several dozen preliminary studies. The authors admit that some of these tend to establish a link between vaping and quitting smoking. But these studies are “Systematically” of low quality, they conclude.

The electronic cigarette is not a medicine

Article by Janlou Chaput published on October 9, 2013

MEPs decided yesterday in the Parliament of Strasbourg: the electronic cigarette will not be sold in pharmacies, but in specialized shops, because it is not a drug. At the same time, anti-smoking legislation has been strengthened.

They are 7 million in Europe and more than 1.5 million in France alone. The followers of the electronic cigarette will still be able to buy their aids at smoking cessation in tobacconists and specialty shops, and not in pharmacies, as advocated by a bill debated in European Parliament from Strasbourg. This Tuesday, October 8, the majority of MEPs voted not to consider thee-cigarette like a medicine.

These products, whose harmlessness has not been proven, contain nicotine, molecule associated with the smoking addiction. But unlike conventional cigarettes, they are free from tar and other solid particles that contribute to the toxicity tobacco. However, they remain prohibited for minors and all advertising is prohibited.

Electronic cigarettes yes, tobacco no!

These measures were passed as part of a larger framework of new anti-smoking legislation, which will generally tighten up. Thus, in the future, 65% of packs of cigarettes will be covered by warning messages (against the 75% that had been requested), while the mark will end up at the very bottom. The cigarettes fine, say ” slim Can still be marketed. On the other hand, flavored cigarettes are set to disappear in the next three years, with the exception of the menthol who obtains an eight-year reprieve.

The vote was held after months of campaigning by the lobbies of tobacco to convince MEPs to go in the direction of their interests and to empty the project of its substance. They wanted to postpone the vote for a few months, after the future European elections in 2014.

From now on, it is up to the 28 countries involved to analyze the submitted text. In the best case, these measures cannot be put in place before 2017, to fight against a scourge that kills 700,000 Europeans each year.