Apr 8, 2014 – Quit Help

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ANCHOR LEAD: DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW E-CIGARETTES ARE BEING POSITIONED IN THE MARKET? ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS

What’s the difference between harm reduction and smoking cessation when it comes to cigarette smoking and use of e-cigarettes? If you’re confused, that’s because e-cigarette makers have spun their message to make it seem like their products are helpful. Enid Neptune, a lung expert at Johns Hopkins, explains.

NEPTUNE: The companies are legally prohibited from associating smoking cessation with their products. Harm reduction is entirely different. What that means is you’re reducing the use of cigarettes. A person who smokes a pack a day, having some type of an intervention, and they wind up smoking only half a pack a day. It’s not an inconsequential result but it’s not the same
as smoking cessation, and the companies are able to say that their products may in fact  promote harm reduction. :32

Neptune says consumers need to be aware of these claims to inform choices. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.