Thread by @ChaunceyGardner, #VapeFam Twitter polls are not scientific. They rely on self-reporting, and may [...]

#VapeFam Twitter polls are not scientific. They rely on self-reporting, and may suffer from bias if those who respond happen to be those who have had positive experiences.

The lived-experience revealed in this thread is WILDLY different from anti-vaping claims.

THREAD

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1. In early 2019, I asked ex-smokers how their overall health had changed after they switched to nicotine vapes (“e-cigarettes”). 93% said "improved."

2. During #COVID19, health officials have stressed that smokers are at risk of respiratory tract infections. Before the pandemic, I asked ex-smokers to report on the number and severity of their colds & flus since switching to vaping. 90% said "less than when I smoked."

3. Some scientific studies suggest a causal link between nicotine vaping and asthma. But 89% of ex-smokers, who were previously diagnosed with asthma and now vape nicotine, said that their asthma symptoms improved. Nearly half (48%) said they no longer need an inhaler.

4. Much is said in the scientific literature about possible links between vaping and oral health. This poll had relatively few respondents, but 88% of nicotine vapers claimed that their dentists have told them that “the overall health of their teeth and gums” had improved.

5. In October 2019, I asked vape shop owners how many smokers they help quit. 58% claimed 8-10 smokers/month. If they helped only 5 smokers quit/month, 10,000 US vape shops helped 600,000 smokers quit in 2019 (plausible, since cigarette sales fell 7.2% that year).

6. But many of those vape shops have now closed. 30% of US respondents said their local vape shop closed during the six months prior to February 2020 (so 180,000 fewer smokers will quit in 2020 compared to 2019). I blame taxes, bans and the "EVALI" misinfodemic.

7. When I asked nicotine vapers what they would do if vaping is banned entirely, 24% said they would return to smoking. 5 million US adults have quit smoking completely by vaping. So a ban would increase the number of US smokers by 1.2 million. >40 countries now ban ecigs.

8. "Flavor” bans are now imposed or proposed in many countries. “Flavors” are 2.3X more effective for smoking cessation than tobacco flavor. If non-tobacco & #39;flavors& #39; are banned, 12% of adult vapers said they would return to smoking (in the US, that would be 600,000).

9. 30+ scientific & public health organizations say “e-cigarettes are safer," but surveys show many people think the opposite. 70% of respondents know a vaper who relapsed to smoking, or a smoker who will not consider switching, because of such beliefs.
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10. Finally, 41% of vapers claim they quit smoking “by accident.” This seems suspiciously high. But no smoker ever quit-by-accident with a nicotine patch. To the extent anyone quits-by-accident with nicotine vaping, it reaches the 30% of smokers who don’t want to quit.

11. In these polls, real people& #39;s lived experience seems to be wildly different from the negative headlines we read every day. These polls are not scientific, may be biased, but ARE suggestive. What happens in petri dishes is often very different from what happens in people.

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