580 CFRA News Talk Radio :: Heart and Stroke Foundation calls for regulation of e-cigarettes :: News - Article
[note to mods: xposted to Canada forum]
[h=2]Heart and Stroke Foundation calls for regulation of e-cigarettes[/h]
The Heart and Stroke Foundation is calling for more research and regulation of e-cigarettes, citing safety concerns and their potential impact on youth.
The Foundation says it is worried about the rapid uptake of the devices in Canada and around the world, considering their health impacts are unknown, especially for second-hand exposure.
Ottawa doctor Barry Dworkin, however, told CFRA research showed those effects were minimal.
"The combustible material that is coming out of this really is not equivalent at all to what you get from second-hand smoke," he said. "It's just not the same gases, not the same chemical compounds."
The Heart and Stroke Foundation is also raising concerns about the possibility that e-cigarettes can renormalize smoking behaviours across the population and to be a gateway to nicotine addiction.
"We have worked tirelessly over the past 50 years to reduce smoking rates and have seen great success, and want this to continue," said Bobbe Wood, the president of the Heart and Stroke Foundation in a release. "We do not want e-cigarette use to make smoking appear as a normal, socially acceptable activity, especially for youth."
Dworkin said it's worth doing more research on e-cigarettes, but he did understand why the Heart and Stroke Foundation is taking such a hard line approach against them.
The Foundation wants politicians to look at banning e-cigarette use in public places, prohibiting their sale to minors and regulating advertising and promotion.
"I find this quite surprising to steer people away if they're already smokers," he said. "You're looking at the lesser of two evils, right? In this case we have people and we had some studies that have come out to demonstrate that e-cigarettes are effective, if not just as effective or even a little bit more effective than some other methods of trying to stop smoking."
E-cigarettes are battery-operated vaping devices that mimic the experience of smoking a cigarette. While the devices are available legally without nicotine in them in Canada, those containing nicotine cannot be sold or imported here.
[note to mods: xposted to Canada forum]
[h=2]Heart and Stroke Foundation calls for regulation of e-cigarettes[/h]
The Heart and Stroke Foundation is calling for more research and regulation of e-cigarettes, citing safety concerns and their potential impact on youth.
The Foundation says it is worried about the rapid uptake of the devices in Canada and around the world, considering their health impacts are unknown, especially for second-hand exposure.
Ottawa doctor Barry Dworkin, however, told CFRA research showed those effects were minimal.
"The combustible material that is coming out of this really is not equivalent at all to what you get from second-hand smoke," he said. "It's just not the same gases, not the same chemical compounds."
The Heart and Stroke Foundation is also raising concerns about the possibility that e-cigarettes can renormalize smoking behaviours across the population and to be a gateway to nicotine addiction.
"We have worked tirelessly over the past 50 years to reduce smoking rates and have seen great success, and want this to continue," said Bobbe Wood, the president of the Heart and Stroke Foundation in a release. "We do not want e-cigarette use to make smoking appear as a normal, socially acceptable activity, especially for youth."
Dworkin said it's worth doing more research on e-cigarettes, but he did understand why the Heart and Stroke Foundation is taking such a hard line approach against them.
The Foundation wants politicians to look at banning e-cigarette use in public places, prohibiting their sale to minors and regulating advertising and promotion.
"I find this quite surprising to steer people away if they're already smokers," he said. "You're looking at the lesser of two evils, right? In this case we have people and we had some studies that have come out to demonstrate that e-cigarettes are effective, if not just as effective or even a little bit more effective than some other methods of trying to stop smoking."
E-cigarettes are battery-operated vaping devices that mimic the experience of smoking a cigarette. While the devices are available legally without nicotine in them in Canada, those containing nicotine cannot be sold or imported here.
