Unplanned Quitting of Smoking Can Result from Substitution by E-cigarettes
Kasza KA, Edwards KC, Kimmel HL, et al. Association of e-Cigarette Use With Discontinuation of Cigarette Smoking Among Adult Smokers Who Were Initially Never Planning to Quit. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(12):e2140880.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2787453
“In this US nationally representative cohort study of 1600 adult daily cigarette smokers who did not initially use e-cigarettes and had no plans to ever quit smoking, subsequent daily e-cigarette use was significantly associated with an 8-fold greater odds of cigarette discontinuation compared with (those smokers who had) no e-cigarette use.”
These findings call for consideration of smokers who are not planning to quit when evaluating the risk-benefit potential of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation in the population.”
Comment: Smokers who had no plans to quit smoking became e-cigarette users while discontinuing conventional cigarettes. They no doubt did so because e-cigarette producers and advocates told them that e-cigarettes were ‘safe’ cessation. If one’s goal is getting smokers to switch to e-cigarettes (the vaping industry), then those who have switched to e-cigarettes while quitting conventional cigarettes are a win for you. What is not a win is perpetuating nicotine addiction through vaping (which carries health risks, both known and still being investigated). Substitution of e-cigarettes for conventional cigarettes is not nicotine cessation.
Stephen Hamann
