|
 E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat a nicotine-laced
liquid to produce an inhalable vapor. Nationally, about three in
four adult e-cigarette users also smoke cigarettes, the CDC said.
"If you only cut down the number of cigarettes you smoke by adding
another tobacco product, like e-cigarettes, you still face serious
health risks," the CDC said in a statement. "Smokers must quit
smoking completely to fully protect their health - even a few
cigarettes a day are dangerous."
The ads, which will begin running in print publications and radio on
Monday, feature a 35-year-old named Kristy who tried using
e-cigarettes to quit smoking, but wound up using both products. She
suffered a collapsed lung and was diagnosed with COPD, a chronic
lung disease, before quitting altogether.
The ads build on the CDC's "Tips From Former Smokers" campaign,
which was launched in 2012.
Most experts agree that e-cigarettes are likely safer than
traditional cigarettes, but early data suggests many e-cigarette
users are also continuing to smoke cigarettes.
Such data could have implications for the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration's proposed regulation of e-cigarettes. Tobacco
companies are developing products that they hope to show reduce harm
from smoking.
In order to receive FDA approval to make such a claim, they must
prove the products not only reduce risk to an individual who
switches or quits but also to the population as a whole.
[to top of second column] |
The FDA has proposed reviewing new products before they are allowed
to be sold and prohibiting sales of the devices to minors. It
expects to publish its final rule in June.
Cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans each year. For
each of those, about 30 more suffer at least one serious
smoking-related illness.
(Reporting by Toni Clarke in Washington, editing by G Crosse)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
