Ashtray Blog: An Electronic Cigarette Blog

I used to be a firm believer in passive smoking as a serious danger to health. Well, we were told this by people in positions of trust, by health organisations, by scientists and by doctors, so why would one think otherwise.

However, I was a bit surprised when I heard the very doctor who had discovered the link between smoking and lung cancer, Richard Doll, laughing at the idea of passive smoking being a serious risk when interviewed on desert island discs a few years before his death.

That quote is still preserved today. In an Independent article entitled Passive Smoking: Is there convincing evidence it exists? Sir Richard Doll is quoted as saying:

“The effect of other people smoking in my presence is so small it doesn’t worry me.”

Why wasn’t he concerned?

Well the clue could be in this second quote from the Independent article:

“Reputable research shows that a non-smoker inhales between a 500th and 1,000th of the toxins inhaled by the smoker himself…”

More on passive smoking tomorrow!

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In this movie, the latest of our mini-extracts from our interview with Professor Carl Phillips from the TobaccoHarmReduction.org project, we get a scientist’s opinion on whether the electronic cigarette could potentially be used as a tobacco harm reduction tool.

Also see:

• Full Interview with Carl Phillips
• The E Cigarette and the FDA: A Scientist’s Response
• Electronic Cigarette Side Effects
• Health Benefits of the Electronic Cigarette
• The Electronic Cigarette and Passive Smoking
• Is the Electronic Cigarette Safe?

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A second tobacco expert has come out and criticised an article in the British Medical Journal on the electronic cigarette.

To recap, the article concluded that the contents of the electronic cigarette were far safer than regular cigarettes but it should be banned anyway because the electronic hasn’t been studied enough. (In the process, as Paul Bergen of the TobaccoHarmReduction.org project pointed out, they ignored several studies that had been made.)

Now Professor Michael Siegel, who runs the tobacco analysis blog, has joined the critics.

Michael summarises the article as stating that water vapour from the electronic cigarette is no safer than regular cigarettes.

Such an assertion is beyond belief. It is completely inconsistent with everything we know about toxicology and pathology and there is no scientific basis for such a statement. It conflicts directly with even the stated conclusion of the article itself, which acknowledges that the levels of hazardous components in electronic cigarettes are likely much lower than in traditional cigarettes

See his full analysis of the BMJ article at the Tobacco Analysis Blog.

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This is latest in our series of mini-extracts from our full interview with Professor Carl Phillips.

Also see:

• Full Interview with Carl Phillips
• Electronic Cigarette Side Effects
• Health Benefits of the Electronic Cigarette
• The Electronic Cigarette and Passive Smoking

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Ready to switch? Visit the Electronic Cigarette Store.

A couple of days ago we blogged about a health group who admitted that the electronic cigarette was far better than cigarettes, but felt they had the right to deny this healthy alternative to the millions of smokers who will die from using cigarette because it too closely resembled smoking.

They’re not the only health group to do so.

We think ASH US (not ASH UK – we don’t agree with everything they say but we do have respect for their stance on tobacco harm reduction) are evil.

But at least they, like us, have pointed out the ridiculous position of the American FDA on the electronic cigarette, stating:

The principal dangers of e-cigarettes highlighted by the FDA — that they contain “known carcinogens and toxic chemicals” — appears overblown. Virtually all nicotine replacement products – e.g., nicotine gum, nicotine patches, nicotine sprays, nicotine inhalers, etc. — reportedly also contain tiny amounts of these known carcinogens because the nicotine used in the products is extracted from tobacco which contains these naturally-occurring chemicals.” (Source: PR Inside)

It proves once again that smoking groups are not attacking the cigarette because it causes harm (many now accept it is safer than cigarettes), but because of a moral objection to smoking.

Oh, and let’s not forget the funds they receive from the manufacturers of the cessation aids threatened by the electronic cigarettes.

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In the latest extract from our interview with Carl Phillips we discuss the side effects of the electronic cigarette.

You can see our other Carl Phillips movies here:

• Health Benefits of the Electronic Cigarette
• The Electronic Cigarette and Passive Smoking
• Is the Electronic Cigarette Safer than Smoking?

You can also read the full interview here: Electronic Cigarette Interview with Carl Phillips.

Don’t forget to let us know what you think!

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Care about the electronic cigarette? Then click here to sign the electronic cigarette petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/vaping/petition.html

The petition asks the government to: ‘ensure that electronic cigarette products and their use is regulated appropriately for recreational purposes rather than seek to define vaping as smoking, tobacco use or medical therapy.’

Click here to read the full petition!

If you have a blog or participate in a forum or social network, please spread the word!

Thanks to Kate from Vaper’s network for pointing this out to me.

This is the latest in our series of movie excerpts from our interview with Professor Carl Phillips. You can see the previous excerpts here:

The Electronic Cigarette and Passive Smoking

Is the Electronic Cigarette Safe?

You can also read the full text interview with Professor Carl Phillips here:

An interview with Carl Phillips

Also, we should emphasis that all opinions made are those of Carl Phillips and do not constitute specific health claims by E Cigarette Direct. Do your own research and make up your own mind, and don’t buy any cheap Chinese imports!

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A quote in a New Zealand article on the electronic cigarette perfectly reveals the attitude anti-smoking groups have towards electronic cigarettes.

Despite the fact that New Zealand researcher Dr Murray Laugeson had declared that electronic cigarettes were far safer than regular cigarettes, anti-smoking group Quit stated they were hesitant about endorsing the product even though they acknowledged that electronic cigarettes:

“… provide nicotine without the thousands of damaging chemicals found in cigarettes and tobacco, which is certainly a good thing.”

The reason?

“Our concern is that, at face value, they appear to reinforce the behaviour of having a cigarette. It’s reinforcing the wrong habit and potentially without addressing the addiction.”

Translation: smoking is morally wrong, even if it is not bad for you..

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And if you can’t quit, you can just f**k off and die.

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This is the second in our series of excerpts from our Carl Phillips interview. You can read the full interview here: E Cigarette Direct Interview with Carl Phillips, and you can also see the first excerpt here: Is the Electronic Cigarette Safer than Cigarettes?

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