U.S. surgeon general e-cigarette report sparks controversy
“The long tradition of scientifically rigorous messages and reports from the U.S. surgeon general appears to have ended,” the public policy group R Street said in a statement. “The report focuses on youth experimentation and completely omits the opportunities for harm reduction these devices offer for adult smokers,” of which there are some 40 million.
The report states that there is no evidence to support claims e-cigarettes help people quit smoking. It concedes, however, that neither is there proof young people who begin vaping move on to smoking traditional cigarettes.
“More studies are needed to elucidate the nature of any true causal relationship between e-cigarette and combustible tobacco product use,” it said.
