{"id":1953,"date":"2016-01-01T06:50:09","date_gmt":"2016-01-01T13:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/?p=1953"},"modified":"2024-09-23T13:25:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T19:25:55","slug":"critics-slam-study-claiming-e-cigarettes-as-dangerous-as-regular-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/critics-slam-study-claiming-e-cigarettes-as-dangerous-as-regular-ones\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics Slam Study Claiming E-Cigarettes as Dangerous as Regular Ones"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There is perhaps no better proof of the federal government\u2019s collusion with Big Pharma than the government\u2019s crusade against “vaping”\u00a0\u2014 inhaling or exhaling the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette. Testimony from experts reveals that vaping is less harmful than smoking and can be an effective tool in helping smokers kick the habit. As such, it poses a competitive threat to pharmaceutical companies that produce drugs with the alleged purpose of achieving the same result. Hence, federal agencies have targeted vaping, even funding studies to distort the facts.<\/p>\n

A newly released study from a lab research team at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System is the latest example of the government\u2019s propaganda against vaping. In this study,\u00a0researchers concluded that, like traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes can lead to the development of a cancer known as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. But how scientifically sound is this study?<\/p>\n

According to The Daily Caller, scientists in the study extracted vapor from two popular e-cigarette brands\u2014V2 and VaporF \u2014 and used it to \u201ctreat human cells in a petri dish.\u201d The results revealed \u201cthe exposed cells showed several forms of damage, including DNA strand breaks. The familiar double helix that makes up DNA has two long strands of molecules that intertwine. When one or both of these strands break apart and the cellular repair process doesn\u2019t work right, the stage is set for cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Jessica Wang-Rodriguez, one of the lead researchers, concluded, “Based on the evidence to date, I believe they are no better than smoking regular cigarettes.”<\/p>\n

However, a more careful examination of the press release that accompanied the study revealed a number of significant flaws with the conclusions.<\/p>\n

Wang-Rodriguez admitted that \u201ccells in the lab are not completely comparable to cells within a living person…. So it could be that e-cigarette vapor has different effects than those seen in the lab.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, she noted that the team \u201cdidn\u2019t seek to mimic the actual dose of vapor that an e-cigarette user would get,” adding, “In this particular study, it was similar to someone smoking continuously for hours on end, so it\u2019s a higher amount than would normally be delivered.”<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at Boston University School of Public Health, told the Daily Caller that the study in fact confirms previous findings that damage caused by e-cigarette vapor to epithelial cell lines in culture is significantly lower than that caused by tobacco smoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, it cannot be concluded from this cell culture that e-cigarette vapor actually has toxic or carcinogenic effects in humans who use these products,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Siegel asserts that the study\u2019s conclusion that e-cigarettes are no less harmful than traditional cigarettes is \u201cbaseless\u201d and actually quite threatening to public health, as it \u201cundermines decades of public education about the severe hazards of cigarette smoking.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Siegel, misleading statements such as these can provoke ex-smokers to switch back to traditional cigarettes if they believe that there is no difference between the two.<\/p>\n

Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, labeled the study\u2019s findings \u201cshameless\u201d and \u201ctransparent\u201d in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation that calls into question the agenda behind the research. He stated:<\/p>\n

Government-funded researchers have realized that when it comes to vapor products, there is no benefit to honestly presenting their data. Instead, the path to larger government grants appears to be a competition where the best rewards are given to those whose studies generate the most salacious headlines.<\/p>\n

The press release for this study was distributed just days before millions of American smokers make New Year\u2019s quit attempts. This is shameless and transparent behavior aimed at discouraging smokers from quitting.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control have targeted e-cigarettes with misleading campaigns in an effort to expand the FDA\u2019s regulation of tobacco to include e-cigarettes.<\/p>\n

But why?<\/p>\n

Some view the government\u2019s opposition to e-cigarettes as an attempt to keep competitive products off the market, citing the pharmaceutical industry’s powerful influence in Washington.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0New York Time<\/em>s\u00a0has reported that GlaxoSmithKline, which sells Nicorette gum, and Johnson & Johnson, which manufactures nicotine patches, have helped lead a \u201cstrong opposition\u201d against e-cigarettes. What\u2019s more, the FDA\u2019s Center for Tobacco Products, which headed the regulation of e-cigarettes, is led by former lobbyist Mitch Zeller, whose consulting clients included GlaxoSmithKline.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Tobacco Control Journal<\/em>, these companies\u2019 nicotine replacement therapies, which have been approved by the FDA, have no better success rates than quitting smoking cold turkey.<\/p>\n

Unlike the pharmaceutical alternatives, e-cigarettes are believed to be a valuable tool in helping smokers quit the habit. California Polytechnic State University professor of economics Michael Marlow asserts, \u201cE-cigarettes have become the greatest source of \u2018creative destruction\u2019 that we\u2019ve seen against the tobacco industry.”<\/p>\n

For this reason, its easy to see why drug companies would be so adamantly opposed to products that are sure to undercut their profits\u00a0\u2014 a point raised by Marlow. \u201cUnfortunately, maybe it\u2019s also a source of creative destruction for those who make a living out of tobacco control,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Dr. Gilbert Ross, medical and executive director of the American Council on Science and Health, contends that the \u201cscience\u201d behind the anti-vaping campaigns is paid for by Big Pharma.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the group\u2019s advocating for this anti-science, anti-public health charade … are influenced by undisclosed but generous financial support from the pharmaceutical industry,” he notes, “which is devoted to keeping effective competition to its poorly performing nicotine replacement therapy patches, gums, and drugs off the market.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is perhaps no better proof of the federal government\u2019s collusion with Big Pharma than the government\u2019s crusade against “vaping”\u00a0\u2014 inhaling or exhaling the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette. Testimony from experts reveals that vaping is less harmful than smoking and can be an effective tool in helping smokers kick the habit. As such, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":1955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[179],"class_list":["post-1953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-volume-49","cat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1953"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15874,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1953\/revisions\/15874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gemstatepatriot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}