The January 24th, 2020 edition of the Globe and Mail included a full-page advertisement that discussed the risks of smoking and the benefits of switching to vaping. It quoted Public Health England’s statement that “E-cigarette use is around 95% less harmful to health than smoking”.

It was not a public health announcement, but a message from Imperial Tobacco Canada. “Big tobacco” paid for an advertisement that said “Smoking poses real and serious health risks” and that “vaping is a less harmful alternative to smoking, but some health groups continue to distort the facts.” It called for a sensible public health policy based on facts, not fear.

What are they talking about when they claim health groups are distorting facts?

As one example, the World Health Organization web page entitled: “E-cigarettes: how risky are they?” states: “There is growing evidence to show that they use could cause lung damage. By 10 December 2019, the USA reported more than 2409 hospitalized cases and 52 confirmed deaths.” It fails to note that this disease outbreak was due to illicit THC oil contaminated with Vitamin E, not to normal vaping.

The WHO asks “Do they help you quit smoking?” and replies: “There is not enough evidence to support the use of these products for smoking cessation.” In fact, several studies have proven them to be effective. A randomized controlled trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that smokers were 83% more likely to quit if they used e-cigarettes rather than traditional nicotine replacement therapy.

The WHO goes on to say that “The aerosols in ENDS typically contain toxic substances, including glycol which is used to make antifreeze” without noting that the type of glycol in e-liquids is propylene glycol, which is so non-toxic that the FDA allows it to be used as antifreeze in drinking water pipes, and also in salad dressing, baked goods, and ice cream. The WHO claims e-liquids burn human skin. Vapers know this is untrue from personal experience.

Experts in tobacco control responded rapidly, saying that: “Practically all the factual statements are wrong”. “The WHO misrepresents the available scientific evidence.” “This WHO briefing is misleading on several counts.” and “The WHO has a history of anti-vaping activism that is damaging their reputation. This document is particularly malign”.

Other health organizations are also lying about vaping. The American Lung Association has said “Vaping is Smoking” and “Switching to vaping is not quitting smoking”. These statements are blatant lies. Smoking involves burning tobacco and inhaling the toxic smoke. It is completely different from warming an e-liquid and inhaling the aerosol. Vaping provides smokers with the nicotine they crave without the tar that contains 7,000 chemicals and 70 carcinogens, and which kills 2/3 of long-term smokers, about 47,000 Canadians every year.

The American Lung Association devotes a page of its web site to “Popcorn Lung”, which it describes as “A Dangerous Risk of Flavored E-Cigarettes”. It claims that diacetyl, an artificial buttery sweetener used to flavour popcorn, can cause a serious lung condition, “bronchiolitis obliterans”, in vapers. In fact, as the Health Canada web site points out, not a single vaper has ever developed popcorn lung. Public Health England calls “Popcorn Lung” their Number #1 myth about vaping. Nevertheless. the CDC website lists popcorn lung as one of the seven main dangers from vape. It also mentions that vape contains cancer-causing chemicals, without noting that the risk of cancer from vaping is about 1% of the risk from smoking.

Many anti-vaping groups falsely claim that vaping is a gateway to smoking because teens who experiment with vaping are more likely to experiment with smoking. Organizations like the “Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids” count vape as a “tobacco product” so that they can say that teenage use of “tobacco products” is at an all-time high, when in fact teen tobacco smoking is at an historically low level.

We now live in a world where one can get accurate health information from tobacco companies, while health groups lie. These lies are changing the public perception of vaping. According to a recent Angus Reid poll, in 2018 46% of Canadians felt that switching from smoking to vaping was good for your health. In 2019 the figure is down to 35%.  Researchers have suggested that switching from smoking to vaping would save 6.6 million lives in the USA, but this will only happen if smokers know that vaping is much safer.

Vaping is a disruptive technology. It provides a more convenient, cheaper, and much safer alternative source of nicotine for smokers. It could obliterate the $700 billion global tobacco market just as Netflix destroyed Blockbuster. This would save eight million lives every year. We need to head the warning message about misinformation resulting in bad policy, even if when comes from “Big Tobacco”.