Alternative nicotine devices linked to deaths
While this story includes the use of cannabis oil vaporisers which research indicates increases lung injury and death, e-cigarettes and vaping are taking a hiding following their linking to three US deaths. A public health warning; nothing in the "harm reduction' debate around alternatives to traditional cigarette, cigar and pipe smoking is certain. It's smoke and mirrors. I naively ran headlong into this murky territory while news editor of the SA Medical Journal. Here's what I wrote in the Izindaba news section in November 2013*; "Can a rechargeable battery, linked to an atomiser and cartridge of liquid nicotine, 'massively' reduce the individual and population risks of traditional cigarette smoking? Or is the increasingly ubiquitous e-cigarette a dubious, poorly-controlled 'aid to quitting', that results in actual dual use with unacceptably high toxin levels? The jury is out scientifically, with South African role players on either side producing evidence for and against the device. Global sales of e-cigarettes are projected to reach R17bn by year end (31st Dec, 2013), which Wells Fargo Securities estimates to be a 240% increase over last year (2012)." Now, ironically it seems, cigarette sales are picking up again in the wake of this scare. Best tip if you're a smoker (of anything)? Go cold turkey; easier said than done, hence the billion-dollar 'new device" industry. – Chris Bateman