Can Vaping Rescue the Healthcare System?

Vaping is a smoking cessation tool that has been used for over a decade by millions of smokers to quit cigarettes. The biomarkers of harm, such as cancer, harmful and deadly lung diseases, and lethal heart diseases are way fewer in e-cigarettes than in cigarettes. Cigarettes are an obvious weight on the healthcare system, and despite their repercussions on human health, analogs are still openly sold and remain on the aisles of supermarkets.

On the flip side, lobbies have made every attempt to distort facts and make false claims to push legislation against the use of e-cigarettes, without having any evidence backing those claims. But amongst all the mayhem, what remains true is the fact the e-cigarette industry holds the potential to alleviate the burden on the healthcare system, by saving the lives of millions of people

E-Cigarettes: UK Vs US Government Stance

There are a lot of discrepancies between the stance taken by the governments of both the UK and the US on e-cigarettes and their usage. The UK government has been an active advocate of e-cigarettes. The royal college of physicians was the first to challenge tobacco companies when they made false claims about the benefits of cigarettes. The UK government has also termed e-cigarettes fit for medicinal and therapeutic purposes. The UK government has also enacted counseling programs that work hand in hand with the e-cigarette industry, and help people quit smoking.

But on the other hand, due to the pressure of powerful lobbies working against the US e-cigarette industry, the country has only put stringent control and regulations against the use of e-cigarettes. From levying taxes to banning flavored disposable vapes, FDA has put the same, if not more, severe regulations against vaping products as tobacco products.

The Major Influences Behind Public Misperception:

The fact remains true that big lobbies hold the power to shape and influence public perception around vaping. And most of these people are actively working for their own interest, without giving heed to the collective benefit of society. Among those lobbies, the two powers that hold the most authority to sway the lawmakers are the big tobacco and pharmaceutical industries.

Both of these industries have taken a disproportionately aggressive stance toward the e-cigarette industry, without proper scientific backing. The reason for all of this is that they are at risk of losing money due to the popularity of e-cigarettes. But it stands against both reason and moral that a company would let another company die down, then uplift it and join it in technological advancement for the betterment and well-being of society.

The Lobbying Efforts Made in The Past by A Huge Pharmaceutical Company:

In 2014, the London Times reported on a leaked memo from a huge British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company called GlaxoSmithKline. The memo revealed lobbying efforts made by GSK against the e-cigarette industry by postulating false claims. In the memo, the company argued that e-cigarettes should be strictly regulated as medications, instead of synthetic nicotine or tobacco products. Furthermore, they went on to say that e-cigarettes could have a negative effect on smokers, and could become a ticket for people to start smoking, especially teenagers. This is the same argument that a lot of lawmakers present.

The law is what policymakers must protect, and making reference to the law, an inexcusable conflict of interest is the fact that Mitch Zeller, the director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products and therefore the chief author of the proposed electronic cigarette regulations, since a proposal is to have e-cigs regulated by the FDA, came to the FDA directly from a consulting job with GlaxoSmithKline and therefore has a severe conflict of interest regarding the electronic cigarette issue.

The Opinion of the General Public:

Due to the increased murkiness, and misconceptions around vaping, most of the public has taken the usual “ban everything we don’t understand approach.” There has been no reported long-term illness or harmful effect related to vaping, and until it's proven to be dangerous, there are a lot of grey areas. Especially if you factor the amount of nicotine into things and the fact that the stimulant (nicotine) people are using in their vapes is no worse for us than another popular socially-acceptable stimulant (coffee.)

The result of lobbying has played out in many ways for the e-cigarette industry. The products are banned, taxed, and their exports are restricted. The consequence of applying all these rules and regulations to e-cigarettes would be an exponential rise in the price of vape products and their removal from the market. The price increase would inevitably drive people back to cigarettes as an unintended consequence.

What, If Any, Regulatory Measures Should Be Applied to The E-Cigarette Industry?

The fact that people have stopped buying cigarettes is incidental to their e-cigarette usage. Hence, it is obvious that vape products are helping people to improve their lifestyles and health. On the basis of the information we have on the benefits and harms relative to cigarettes, any regulatory measure applied to e-cigarettes, should be aimed at quality standards. The inspection and monitoring of vaping products and e-liquids should entail:

1. Proof that the manufacturer has followed GMP (good manufacturing practices)

2. The containers or bottles have child-proof openings and caps

3. Documents containing the contents of e-liquid submitted to the regulators

4. Detailed, thorough, and clear documentation and labeling of the contents and the dangers associated with e-liquid and vape use.

The Added Benefits of Vaping to The Healthcare System:

Cigarette smoking is the major cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. It causes one in five deaths, and more than HIV, Drug abuse, alcohol, or motor accident-related deaths combined. When we compare the bio-markers of harm in e-cigarettes, the numbers are staggeringly low. By making people switch to vaping, the entire healthcare system can gain a lot of benefits, both with respect to saving the lives of people and saving the cost of healthcare.

The most convincing and powerful study on vaping, which included the gold standard randomized trial, showed that in a 12-month follow-up, e-cigarettes doubled the successful quit rate among smokers compared to nicotine-replacement therapy. If 10 percent of current smokers switch to e-cigarettes for the next ten years, we would save 6 to 7 million lives, and 87 million quality life years would be saved.