Mendelsohn highlights that the SA Health website makes false claims, most of which are commonly repreated by anti-vape entities. For examle, the website claims that nicotine harms the developing brain. However, explains Mendelsohn such a link has only been proven in rodents. The site also rightly mentions that vapes contain harmful chemicals, yet it fails to add that the doses of these are only a small fraction of those found in cigarettes and hence that smokers switching to vapes are reducing the level of harm.
Moreover highlights the tobacco harm reduction expert, the website also repeats the outdated “gateway theory”. “The website states ‘If you vape you are 3 times as likely to take up smoking cigarettes’, implying that vaping causes kids to take up smoking (the ‘gateway’ theory). However, there is no evidence that vaping causes young people to take up smoking. In fact, vaping is having the opposite effect. Youth smoking rates are declining faster as vaping has increased.”
“Furthermore, stating that 2 in 3 young people have tried vaping is meaningless without information about the frequency and duration of use and whether the users were already smokers. Most use by young people is experimental and transient and of very little public health importance. Regular use is mainly confined to smokers or would-be smokers. For them vaping is likely to be beneficial,” adds Mendelsohn.
The website erroneously links vaping to EVALI, the infamous lung injury which spread like wild fire between mid-2019 and early 2020 in the United States, “It falsely claims that vaping has been linked to serious lung disease. No cases of serious lung disease have ever been linked to nicotine vaping. The outbreak of the lung condition EVALI in North America in 2019-20 was caused by vaping black-market cannabis oils adulterated with a cutting agent, Vitamin E Acetate.”
Studies confirm EVALI was never caused by nicotine vapes
In fact Mendelsohn’s most recent study reiterates that contrary to multiple false claims by anti-vape entities, EVALI was never caused by vaping regulated nicotine vapes.
“It is highly implausible that nicotine vaping products played a role in EVALI. There have been no verified cases of EVALI from vaping nicotine before or after the outbreak,” said Dr. Mendelsohn. In fact, in December 2020, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), had confirmed that the condition was caused by Vitamin E Acetate Oil. This compound was mainly found in illicit THC Vaping Cartridges purchased on the blackmarket.
Rates of E-Cig and Marijuana Use Not Linked to EVALI Occurrence
