Thailand Pro-vaping network reveals UK gov’t provides e-cigarettes to help homeless people quit smoking

The End Cigarette Smoke Thailand group (ECST) and admins of the “What is an e-cigarette?” Facebook page spoke to the media this week about what they view as incorrect statements made by an anti-smoking activist, who said a new study shows that e-cigarettes contain high levels of nicotine and are just as harmful to health as combustible cigarettes while stating that the government has the right to ban e-cigarettes in order to protect the public’s health and regulate harmful goods.

 “A study by researchers at the University of California in the U.S. cited by Dr. Ruengruedee Pathavanich of Ramathibodi Hospital was a trial conducted in eight lab rats and the results were measured within five minutes to see the levels of nicotine that the rats had received from the vapor from e-cigarettes. The results show the vapor produced by one brand of e-cigarettes contained 5-8 times more nicotine than cigarettes. However, The amount used in the trial does not reflect the use of e-cigarettes in real life and contradicts with the report by the British Heart and Cardiovascular Disease Association citing a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, which studied the cardiovascular effects of switching from tobacco cigarettes to e-cigarettes in smokers.

 The study by the British Heart and Cardiovascular Disease Association found that smokers demonstrated significant improvement in vascular health after switching to e-cigarettes for one month. Moreover, experts from Oxford University also encouraged smokers to switch from cigarettes to e-cigarettes in order to reduce the risks of heart and cardiovascular diseases. The Thai doctor publicizing such misinformation can confuse smokers and the general public and create a misunderstanding, which is very irresponsible on her part,” said Asa Saligupta.

 “If e-cigarettes are really more harmful than cigarettes, then why does the U.K. encourage smokers to switch to e-cigarettes? The UK recently started a trial to help homeless people to quit smoking and improve their health by providing them with e-cigarettes. This is a good example of a public health agency doing its job of providing correct and objective information to the public and providing suitable alternatives for people and smokers, and not focusing on providing only negative information without letting the society consider other information to help them make their own decision.”

 Currently, more than 70% of homeless people in the U.K. smoke, and this group of people cannot afford to buy an e-cigarette. The University College London (UCL) has initiated a trial to investigate whether e-cigarettes could help people experiencing homelessness to quit smoking. The trial program received a £1.7 million grant from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and is supported by seven other academic partners including King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London, and the University of York. The research trial will include 480 participants across the U.K. and if the trial results show that providing free e-cigarette starter kits helps people to quit, homeless centers could decide to adopt this approach in the future, to help reduce the impact of smoking-related diseases among people who are homeless.

 Meanwhile, Maris Karanyawat, added “We’ve never said that e-cigarettes are risk-free, but compared to combustible cigarettes, e-cigarettes are definitely a better alternative to smoking. Public Health England, American Cancer Society, the New Zealand Public Health Ministry as well as many universities and research institutes including King’s College London and Cochrane have all come to the same conclusion that using e-cigarettes is less harmful than smoking cigarettes. Therefore, claiming that e-cigarettes must be banned in order to protect the public’s health is nonsense. Dr. Prakit Vathesatogkit claimed that 41 countries worldwide have banned e-cigarettes but failed to mention that 66 other countries have legalized e-cigarettes and implemented measures to prevent young people from having access to e-cigarettes. This shows that Thailand’s tobacco control policy is ineffective and an utter failure.”