Earlier this week, The Heartland Institute issued a booklet called Vaping, E-Cigarettes, and Public Policy Toward Alternatives to Smoking (PDF) which covers topics such as policies related to electronic cigarettes, deciphering myths from facts about the benefits and dangers pertaining to using the devices, and the potential vaping products hold for harm reduction.
The guidance document started by pointing that the reason why e-cigarettes are so effective for smoking cessation is because they “simulate the physical and behavioral aspects of smoking while eliminating most of the harmful chemicals.” Additionally the document points out that the chemical composition of vapor is significantly safer than that of smoke, an argument which goes in line with the renowned study released by Public Health England, which found vaping to be at least 95% safer than smoking.
In agreement with several other studies, the document goes on to point out that any hazardous substances exhaled in vapor are found in insignificant amounts in comparison to those found in exhaled cigarette smoke, making the devices practically harmless to bystanders in contrast to cigarettes.
Recommended policy strategies
Whilst opening the booklet with their recommended policy approaches pertaining to vaping devices, the authors shared a lot of detailed information about the products and most importantly concluded, “There is no justification for imposing cigarette taxes and other punitive policies on e-cigarettes.”
