Health Canada Encourages Smokers to keep Smoking (I'm kidding... but only a little)...

Ok, so there's a new phenomena hitting the world of cigarettes called the e-cigarette.  Canadian media outlets recently did a bunch of stories on e-cigarettes asking whether or not they are safe.  Health Canada's position on all this was...

Health Canada told CTV News in an email "as the safety, quality and efficacy of these products remains uncertain, Health Canada continues to advise Canadians not to use electronic cigarettes as they may pose health risks."

Now, I'm a smoker and I've tried everything... the patch, the gum, Chantix/Champix, cold turkey, count smokes per day and then trying to decrease the number over time, etc.

About the only thing I haven't tried has been hypnosis.

And nothing worked. Some things worked enough that when my motivation was SUPER high I was able to quit for a couple weeks, but that was about all.

So for someone like me (for whom other cessation methods have not worked), when Health Canada says "do not use this" they are essentially telling me you are better off smoking than using this. 

This is a ridiculous position for Health Canada to take.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that they can't tell people to use something that they haven't tested on 10,000 clinical trial patients over a 10 year period and which they can then guarantee is 100 per cent is safe... but there has to be some room for common sense. We are after all talking about 'safety' in a comparative manner versus cigarettes which we know have harmful affects.

Vaping is a fairly simple process. A liquid, comprised of propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), flavoring and (optionally) nicotine, is heated momentarily by a heating element in the ecigarette creating vapor that the user 'smokes'.

That's it. Neither PG or VG are considered toxic. The nicotine is obviously toxic, but just like a cigarette the user regulates their nicotine intake by vaping or not vaping as required.

To learn all the basics about vaping take a visit to wikipedia, they have a pretty good overview.

Now, unless Health Canada has some kind of evidence or educated speculation that PG or VG are more harmful than the 3,000+ chemicals contained in cigarettes, how on earth can they tell people NOT to vape?

My Ecig experience

Just the other day I got my first ecig kit and have been using it now for about 35 hours (video of the kit I purchased). Here's what I can say about the experience (and this is just my experience)...

1. There's no question this 'feels' healthier than smoking.
   
   It's hard to describe, but smokers can tell you that 'smoking' takes a toll on your body. Most smokers will only smoke one or two brands of cigarettes since their body is so sensitive to the effects of the chemicals (if they smoke other brands they will feel sick).
   
   So keeping that level of sensitivity in mind, I can tell you that the ecigarette has no physical downsides. In fact the opposite, without all the tar and carbon monoxide of a regular cigarette you feel much better. Not to mention it emits no harmful chemicals into the environment, so it's much better for those around you also (it actually emits a pleasant odor).
   
   So unless evidence is presented showing that PG or VG is dangerous... which is hard to imagine given both compounds are used in products ranging form asthma inhalers to baby wipes to deodorents... my first hand experience suggests that there are no clear health downsides to vaping other than the effects of taking in too much nicotine (just like if you smoke too many cigarettes you aren't going to feel too great).
2. Vaping is far better than other nicotine replacement systems
   
   Nicotine gum sucks. The nicotine patch is better, but it is still pretty bad. I often use the following analogy...
   
   If smoking is like eating a steak, then the nicotine patch is like eating rice cakes. And the nicotine gum is like eating musilex or something. Yes, you won't die if you give up steak for rice cakes, but you are not going to be very happy and it's going to be hard to keep eating rice cakes when you know you can go buy a steak any time you want.
   
   Now, with an e-cigarette, it's not the same as smoking, it is a different experience. Having said that, if smoking is like a steak, the ecigarette is like a hamburger. Using the food analogy most non-smokers can begin to see how giving up steak for hamburger would be far easier than giving up steaks for rice cakes right?
   
   The problem with both the gum and the patch is that they don't allow the user to regulate when and how much nicotine they consume. With the ecigarette, much like an actual cigarette, you can. The addition of the 'smoke' (which is actually just vapor) really makes swapping out smoking for vaping quite easy as you get the psychological benefit of feeling like you are still smoking.
   
   In addition, unlike the gum or the patch, you can still smoke if you want. When you use the gum or the patch you cannot smoke without getting a nicotine overdose. Even if you spit the gum out or take the patch off, you've still got to wait an hour or more to let the nicotine in your system disappear before you have an actual cigarette. If you don't you'll feel sick from an overdose of nicotine in your system.
   
   But with an ecigarette it's essentially like smoking... so you are free to have a cigarette one hour and vape the next, or do whatever you feel like. Ironically, knowing you can smoke a real cigarette whenever you want lessens the urge to actually do so. In addition, since the experiences are so similar, what's the point of paying 25 cents for an actual smoke when you can 'smoke' your ecigarette at the cost of perhaps a single cent or less?
   
   There is no question in my mind that ecigarettes are far and beyond the best cessation method available (keeping in mind that you are only ceasing to use cigarettes and inhaling all the chemicals and tar associated with them, you are still addicted to nicotine  with an ecigarette).
3. It is by far the cheapest of all the nicotine replacement options
   
   So I'll use my situation as an example. I'm a regular smoker (approximately 18 cigarettes a day). This translates to about a carton of cigarettes every week and a half at a cost of 75 dollars Canadian. Per month you're looking at $210 dollars.
   
   I can't tell you the cost of the patch or gum, but back when I tried them they were basically a tad cheaper than smoking itself (so who knows, maybe today they are 50 per cent cheaper than actually smoking).
   
   Now, with the ecigarette a 30 ml bottle of ejuice (this is the term used for the juice that goes into the ecigarette) costs between 10-20 dollars (the higher quality 'flavours' would be towards the upper end of that range). I've been using my ecigarette for the past 35 hours and so far I've used less than 1ml of the ejuice (so 30 ml of ejuice will probably last me a month).
   
   So do the math... 210 bucks a month for smokes versus 15 bucks a month for ejuice. 210 bucks for cigarettes with all kinds of carcinogens in them and tar and carbon monoxide or 15 bucks for ejuice with just the nicotine and none of the cancer causing agents.
   
   This matters! A lot of people don't quit smoking because they end up paying relatively the same amount as smoking for a product they hate... like the gum or patch. But with the ecig you're paying what... 90 per cent less?... and it's just as enjoyable as smoking itself. 

The Debate 

So within this debate here are the core variables / narratives that I think will play out over the coming years and will shape the narrative of ecigarettes in the media.

On the 'against ecigarettes' side, they are the following:

1. Unless it's proven safe, it's not safe 
   Health Canada has to say 'no' to anything that has not been proven safe (it may be safe, but unless that has been proven, no must be the answer).
   
   And this is fair, we don't want Health Canada 'guessing' as to what is safe, we want them to make claims based on evidence.
   
   That said, in this instance though, we're comparing the product with cigarettes!
   
   So at the very least Health Canada could have come out and said "While we don't know IF these are safe, based on the ingredients of ecigarettes it's difficult to imagine that they would be more dangerous than cigarettes themselves. We won't know the health implications on ecigarettes until studies have been done, so we caution people to use ecigarettes at their own risk and to consult their doctor if they begin using such a device."
2. Nicotine ejuices are dangerous
   It's next to impossible for kids to steal mom's cigarettes and eat them (if you've ever had cigarette flakes in your mouth they taste horrible, no child would eat them... much less eat 25 cigarettes contained in a pack).
   
   But 'ejuice' poses a real health danger. If a child were to get a hold of an ejuice bottle with nicotine in it and drink the contents of that bottle, they could easily die from it.
   
   In this regard I really wish Health Canada would have put some focus on informing Canadians using ecigarettes and ejuices with nicotine to make sure that the ejuice is stored where children cannot access it. It should be treated like you would treat all other medicines / pharmaceuticals.
3. Nicotine ejuices are unregulated
   
   Ejuices are not approved for sale in Canada. As a result, at some point the media is going to start asking "Where are Canadians getting their ejuice from?"
   
   The Canadian government will then have to start actively trying to stop people from getting ejuice through Canadian retailers or stopping imports from the US (which they are already trying to do).
   
   It's not hard to imagine that at some point the government may try to stop ecigarette use in Canada by going after the ejuice that is required by the devices under the narrative that because the ejuice is not regulated they must stop it from getting into the hands of Canadians.
   
   And to be honest, it's a fair point. But my take is, instead of stopping the ejuice how about you just regulate it!
4. Ecigarettes encourage kids to smoke
   
   It's only a matter of time until we start seeing this (primarily because the ejuices come in flavours that many will say appeal to kids).
   
   The reality is that ecigarettes are far less convenient than cigarettes.
   
   *It is a piece of electronics (ranging from 20-to-100 dollars) after all.
   
   *If you drop it and it breaks, you have to order a new one.
   
   *If you don't take care of it, it will stop working properly.
   
   *It doesn't look 'cool'.
   
   *It's not 'light' the way a cigarette is, you can't just walk around with it between your fingers or hold it with two fingers while you drive.
   
   * You can't simply toss it away when you are done vaping like you can a cigarette.
   
   I can't imagine why anyone who was not a smoker would want to get an ecigarette kit. If you are trying to quit smoking it's great, but it's nowhere near as 'convenient' as actual cigarettes. I just don't see kids shelling out 100 bucks to try something new, unlike cigarettes which they often end up trying through a friend or stealing some of mom or dad's cigarettes (or put differently, real cigarettes for kids often have a zero cost entry barrier because of how they first obtain them).
   
   Having said that, you never know what crazy things kids will get into, but the ecigarette is no more of a danger than actual real cigarettes are. So while this is a legit concern, I suspect it will get way overblown in the media. 

On the 'for ecigarettes' side, we'll see the following:

1. The ecigarette works
   
   The testimonials keep cropping up everyday on YouTube and various forums. People who have tried vaping pretty much all agree that it is by far the best method for quitting actual cigarettes.
   
   As more and more smokers find out about ecigarettes in Canada, many of them are going to try it and like it.
2. Why the push back on ecigarettes?
   
   At some point people will probably start asking why the government is against ecigarettes so much.
   
   Then the next thing they will do is point out the following facts:
   
   * 65-70 per cent of the cost of cigarettes in Canada are taxes (there are five million smokers in Canada. If your average smoker spends $2,500 a year on smokes, $1,600 of that goes to the government.... on five million smokers that's $8,000,000,000 of revenue, that's right 8 billion!)
   
   * What the government doesn't take in taxes, the tobacco companies and distributors get to keep
   
   * The pharma companies also make a good chunk of change off smoking cessation products
   
   * The vast majority of people who try nicotine cessation products fail to quit smoking and remain smokers
   
   Now, if people started vaping instead of smoking the government, the tobacco companies and the pharma companies would all take a pretty big hit in revenue.
   
   I'm not saying that this is a reason why the government is opposed to ecigarettes at this time, merely stating that this position / thought will come up and the government will have to respond to it.
   
   If getting people to quit smoking cigarettes is the end game, the ecigarette is the cheapest and most effective means of doing so. It does, however, have the side consequence of destroying revenue for the government, the tobacco industry and the pharma companies.
3. People actually smoking them in public
   In the very near future you are going to start seeing people on the street smoking an ecigarette. This is when the whole issue of 'vaping' will enter the mass consciousness.
   
   As people begin to see that it's not a filthy, stinky habit like smoking and that it's helping people quit actual cigarettes, I suspect public opinion will be heavily in favour of ecigarettes.

So there you have it. It should be an interesting PR trend to watch over the coming years. 

I think Health Canada is behind the curve on this one. They need to start talking to actual smokers who are using ecigarettes and understand what's actually going on before taking such a black and white stance on the product. 

There are certain trends that you can tell from very early on cannot be stopped and after using an ecigarette kit myself I'm confident in saying this is going to be one of them.

At the end of the day everyone's goal should be the same... to get people off cigarettes (and ultimately even nicotine vaping). But as the saying goes, you can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good - in a perfect world people would go from smokers to non-smokers instantly, but that's not the world we live in.

And just like cigarettes, I think everyone would be in agreement that youth should not have access to them - just like youth shouldn't have access to cigarettes, nicotine gum or nicotine patches (unless prescribed by a doctor to assist in getting them off nicotine).

Vaping is a positive step AWAY from cigarettes and a viable path for many to quit cigarettes for good. In that light, governments will eventually have to embrace ecigarettes, and the sooner they do so (and bring to bear associated powers of regulation) the better off everyone will be.

But the PR process of coming to this conclusion is probably still a couple years in the making.