American Heart Association: Electronic cigarettes last resort to quit smoking

Whether electronic cigarette is an effective alternative to the regular cigarettes that helps smokers quit the habit or is it a silent killer? The question remains unanswered in the dearth of proper research work.

But in a new development, the American Heart Association has backed these modern cigarettes as a last resort to help smokers quit the habit. The declaration has been made in its first policy statement.

“E-cigarette is reasonable to have a conversation when proven smoking cessation methods fail to help smokers quit,” Dr. Elliott Antman, president of Heart Association, said.

Notably, the American Cancer Society has also indicated similar submission in May about the e-cigs but they have not announced any formal policy over the much debated smoking tool.

According to the Cancer Society, e-cigs “may be a reasonable option” for those who want to quit the habit but couldn’t despite trying counseling and approved cessation methods like nicotine patches.

Despite backing the smoking device as a probable cessation alternative, both the groups clarified that they never recommend e-cigarettes for smoking cessation and also warned the device makers to not market them that way. They stressed that the recommended and proven smoking cessation methods should always be tried on the first hand.

The groups also expressed their concern over the rising popularity of these nicotine-vapor products especially among the young college and school going Americans and urged the health department for more regulation.

The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April this year had proposed categorizing e-cigarettes as tobacco products with inclusion off warning labels and imposition of rules like a ban on their sales to those under 18.

Electronic cigarettes or e-cigs are battery-powered devices that vaporize nicotine. They’ve been available in the US market for sale since 2007. Millions of users worldwide use these less toxic cigarettes than the regular tradition one. They ttracts nearly USD 2 billion in annual sales.