In the United States, a study conducted at Georgetown University in 2017, Potential Deaths Averted in USA by Replacing Cigarettes with E-Cigarettes, concluded that switching from traditional cigarettes to vapor products would prevent between 1.6 million and 6.6 million premature deaths over 10 years in the country. A comprehensive study of vapor products commissioned by the FDA and published in 2018 also confirmed that “there is substantial evidence that completely switching from regular use of combustible tobacco cigarettes to e-cigarettes results in reduced short-term adverse health outcomes in several organ systems.”

A randomized clinical study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on 2/14/2019 further concluded that cigarette smokers were almost twice as likely to quit smoking when using e-cigarettes than when using nicotine replacement therapies such as lozenges and patches. Another study of over 18,000 smokers published in May 2019 found that those using e-cigarettes as quitting aid were almost 3 times more likely to succeed in their efforts to quit after 12 months than those using nicotine gums, patches, and lozenges.

It is evident from the above studies that a harm reducing approach is the best pathway for smokers who are unable to quit cold turkey. Besides the traditional nicotine replacement therapies and medications, flavored nicotine vapor products provide them another alternative, especially when they have failed repeatedly with the other methods. In the article titled “Evidence, alarm, and the debate over e-cigarettes: Prohibitionist measures threaten public health” published on 12/13/2019 in Science Magazine, 5 leading public health experts write “for those addicted to combustible tobacco, harm reduction is a pragmatic approach.” By “restricting access and appeal among less harmful vaping products out of an abundance of caution while leaving deadly combustible products on the market does not protect public health. It threatens to derail a trend that could hasten the demise of cigarettes, poised to take a billion lives this century”.

Therefore, if the City Council was to pass this ordinance introduced 1.14.20 without a carve out for adults (21+) the city is refusing to accept the notion that harm reduction can be a part of tobacco control and denying the accessibility and availability of a less harmful product, it would be admitting to the fact that it has little to no interest in actually helping smokers to improve their health. It is an act that is detriment of smokers and public health. Please look at updated facts. Any and all lung disease was caused by black market THC products per the CDC 1/7/20. Please do your fiduciary duty and reasonably regulate these products that are helping millions of Americans transition to a technology that has proven to be a magnitude of order less harmful than cigarettes.