E-Cigarette Use in Adolescents and Adults—A JAMA Collection
Lieu TA et al. E-Cigarette Use in Adolescents and Adults—A JAMA Collection
JAMA. Published online August 7, 2024. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.15912
“JAMA presents a cluster of articles on e-cigarette use and cessation interventions, including a Patient Page, Original Investigation and related Editorial, 2 clinical Insights (focused on e-cigarette use in adolescents and in adults), a JAMA Revisited historical reprint, Research Letter, and Medical News article.”
For example, Winickoff and colleagues on vaping in youth voice “strong concerns about nicotine addiction and its potential to impair attention and impulse control, as well as other harms of vaping such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis from contaminants or vaping of cannabis simultaneously with nicotine.”
In contrast, this collection is positive on use of e-cigarettes for adults and states, “Some evidence suggests that switching from conventional cigarettes to e-cigarettes may improve lung function, respiratory symptoms, and blood pressure, but high-quality data on the effects of e-cigarette use beyond 12 months are limited.”
Comment: Medical authorities in the US seem to accept taking a chance on e-cigarettes, driven by a concern for adult smokers who may or may not benefit from the long-term consequences of e-cigarette or dual use. The only certainty of e-cigarette use is the continued nicotine addiction of adults and a new generation of users. To me, the already visible risks to the respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological systems from e-cigarette use do not warrant this perversion of the harm-reduction position for e-cigarette approval. Stephen Hamann
Stephen Hamann
