BC Lung Association weighs in on mixed messages about e-cigs

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Out on the sidewalk or swirling out a car window, it’s not hard to spot a cloud of vapour wreathing someone’s head in Vancouver — but are e-cigarettes doing more help or harm to the health of people puffing on them?

There are mixed messages coming from either side of the Atlantic when it comes to vaping, with the Royal College of Physicians in the UK recommending e-cigs as a much safer alternative to regular smokes and the United States cracking down on them.

So, which side of the fence does the BC Lung Association fall on?

“We’re not recommending that people choose e-cigarettes as a method to quit smoking,” says CEO Scott McDonald.

“In the absence of unanimous agreement within the scientific community about the value and the safety of e-cigarettes, we are cautionary at this point,” he tells NEWS 1130.

While the Royal College of Physicians states that vaping is only five per cent as bad as smoking regular tobacco cigarettes, McDonald says there is no cut-and-dried answer when it comes to the safety of e-cigs.

“Different scientific bodies — including the US Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and the American Lung Association — are a little nervous about people inhaling a substance about which very little is known. There are very few regulations on the content of the materials that are in e-cigarettes.”

McDonald admits electronic cigarettes may be helpful in quitting traditional smoking, but he believes it is simply substituting one addiction for another.

“They’re probably better than smoking — which is about as bad a thing as you can do to your lungs — but we are not saying they’re good,” he says. “It’s a very poor substitute for breathing clean air.”

McDonald also points out flavoured vaping liquids can appeal to kids, getting them hooked on nicotine at an early age.

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