Catania 09/09/2019 – “The cases of severe lung illness in the USA are – as reported by some news agency – connected to oil extracts in liquids illegally bought off the street”
“It’s clear we are dealing with a shameful disinformation campaign and a nicotine vaping products demonization” said Riccardo Polosa (director of CoEHAR).
“We have been barking up the wrong tree. Common vaping products used by smoker to quit smoking have nothing to do with products illegally bought on the black market, that are causing a serious health problem in the USA.
As I have already declared- explained Polosa – now more than ever, we required control over new cannabis-based vaping products, certainly not over e-cigarette which is already regulated by law.
As reported by several american newspapers, cases of severe respiratory illness in the USA are connected to the use of THC extracts oil or CBD never used before. American health authorities warned people not to vape uncertified or illegal products. It’s an understatement to believe that this problem concerns just USA and not all other countries. In order to protect Italian consumers from this eventuality, It’s necessary to build a collaboration between regulatory authorities, experts in the field and producers.
Scientific evidence- said Polosa – has shown that professional support combined with drugs generates the outcomes in quitting- smoking process. However, a recent randomized study run by London Imperial College has proved that professional help plus the use of cigarette is even more effective than traditional drugs.
Maybe choosing vaping to quit smoking does not lead to miraculous outcomes, but is the fastest and the most convenient solutions to reduce smoke damage. As shown by PHE, public health England, the highest authority on public health in the UK, e-cigarettes are at least 95% less harmful than smoking blondes. About nicotine issue, it’s good to remember that once dissociated from the carcinogenic toxins in the tobacco burning tar of conventional cigarettes, it’s not the cause of serious and well known medical conditions associated with cigarette; therefore, criminalizing nicotine consumption isn’t a scientific issue, but a moral one.
Regarding the CDC (the Center for Disease Control and Prevention) investigation of possible cases of “severe lung illness associated with vaping”, Riccardo Polosa replied:
“My opinion is that we need to be careful in pointing fingers towards vaping products. There’s a huge variety of respiratory conditions and this is sospicious: how can a single trigger, in this case e-cigarette, cause such as assorted list of respiratory conditions? It’s important that causality is proven. We need an investigation”.
Riccardo Polosa is concerned about a DIY mania: the attempt to create vaping products illegally at home.
“Patients who quit smoking by switching to vaping has shown a general improvement in their respiratory conditions. I think that this cases that have been reported by media need to be investigated. They have to be related to illegal products bought off the street. A single trigger can’t cause such an assorted list of respiratory conditions”.
