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New Harvard Study Finds that As Many as 18% of Current E-Cigarette Users May Have Quit Smoking Completely Using E-Cigarettes
http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/05/new-harvard-study-finds-that-as-many-as.html
Thus, as one can easily see, the conclusion of the Harvard study is not consistent with its actual findings and appears to reflect a bias against e-cigarettes. Despite having implemented methods to try to differentiate ex-smokers who returned to nicotine use with e-cigarettes from smokers who quit using e-cigarettes, and despite having found that the overwhelming majority of vapers who were former smokers reported that they were recent quitters, the study nevertheless makes the assumption that all of the ex-smokers were former smokers who were enticed back to nicotine use due to e-cigarettes. This is the only way that the study was able to draw as its ultimate conclusion:
"In conclusion, there has been rapid growth in ever and current electronic cigarette use over the past five years, although growth in current use slowed down from 2013 to 2014. Although smokers are most likely to use these products, almost a third of current users are nonsmokers, undermining potential public health benefits of cigarette smokers possibly switching to electronic cigarettes."
This conclusion doesn't comport with the actual findings of the study. When the study concludes that a third of current e-cigarette users are nonsmokers, it is entirely possible that roughly half of these "nonsmokers" are former smokers who quit smoking successfully using e-cigarettes. Obviously, the difference in these two interpretations is drastic. That the researchers chose to present the findings in a negative way that is not consistent with their own findings seems to indicate a bias against e-cigarettes.
By the way, I fully understand why many anti-tobacco researchers have a strong bias against e-cigarettes. They look like cigarettes and are used like cigarettes. For those of us who have been fighting smoking for our entire careers, it is difficult to condone a behavior that looks just like smoking.
http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/05/new-harvard-study-finds-that-as-many-as.html
Thus, as one can easily see, the conclusion of the Harvard study is not consistent with its actual findings and appears to reflect a bias against e-cigarettes. Despite having implemented methods to try to differentiate ex-smokers who returned to nicotine use with e-cigarettes from smokers who quit using e-cigarettes, and despite having found that the overwhelming majority of vapers who were former smokers reported that they were recent quitters, the study nevertheless makes the assumption that all of the ex-smokers were former smokers who were enticed back to nicotine use due to e-cigarettes. This is the only way that the study was able to draw as its ultimate conclusion:
"In conclusion, there has been rapid growth in ever and current electronic cigarette use over the past five years, although growth in current use slowed down from 2013 to 2014. Although smokers are most likely to use these products, almost a third of current users are nonsmokers, undermining potential public health benefits of cigarette smokers possibly switching to electronic cigarettes."
This conclusion doesn't comport with the actual findings of the study. When the study concludes that a third of current e-cigarette users are nonsmokers, it is entirely possible that roughly half of these "nonsmokers" are former smokers who quit smoking successfully using e-cigarettes. Obviously, the difference in these two interpretations is drastic. That the researchers chose to present the findings in a negative way that is not consistent with their own findings seems to indicate a bias against e-cigarettes.
By the way, I fully understand why many anti-tobacco researchers have a strong bias against e-cigarettes. They look like cigarettes and are used like cigarettes. For those of us who have been fighting smoking for our entire careers, it is difficult to condone a behavior that looks just like smoking.
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