2 Studies Highlight ‘Tradeoffs’ of E-Cigarettes
Could Electronic Cigarette help smokers of regular, combustible cigarettes quit? Or are they getting a new generation hooked on nicotine? Two new studies provide some answers, but also raise some questions.

In a study published January 30, 2019 in the New England Journal of Medicine, British researchers found e-cigarettes worked almost twice as well as nicotine-replacement therapies (NRT), such as patches and gum, at helping smokers quit regular cigarettes. This is the first large, randomized study to test whether modern e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking.

Another study, published February 1, 2019 in JAMA Network Open, found that American teens and tweens who use e-cigarettes are more than 4 times as likely to try a regular cigarette than those who never tried e-cigarettes.

“It leaves me worried and hopeful,” said Jeffrey Drope, PhD, American Cancer Society Scientific Vice President, Economic and Health Policy Research. “Worried about the association between vaping and smoking for young people, particularly in light of the popularity among youth of products like JUUL. Hopeful because there is better evidence that there is likely utility in e-cigarettes as either a cessation tool or at least to get people away from combustible products.”

Drope also points to the statement made in September 2018 by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD. Gottlieb said, “In closing the on-ramp to kids, we’re going to have to narrow the off-ramp for adults who want to migrate off combustible tobacco and onto e-cigs.” And he said, “The FDA won’t tolerate a whole generation of young people becoming addicted to nicotine as a tradeoff for enabling adults to have unfettered access to these same products.”Electronic Cigarette
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