The Vaping Debate and Health: Evidence and Unknowns

Increasingly popular, vaping is hotly debated in healthcare and policymaking. On the one hand, advocates for e-cigarettes argue that they are a safer alternative to tobacco, which causes millions of deaths around the world every year. But with youth vaping rates skyrocketing, critics fear that a new generation is becoming addicted to nicotine, which is often found in vaping products and sometimes at higher concentrations, with little evidence for the devices’ long-term safety. Meanwhile, a spate of vaping-related illnesses and deaths has demonstrated how far the growth of vaping has outpaced regulation and research. While CDC scientists traced most of the deaths to an additive in black-market THC vaping cartridges, confusion persists over what products are safe for consumers. This Forum weighed the pros and cons of vaping from a public health and policy perspective, looking at both legal and illicit uses of vaping devices, and examined the impact of vaping-related illnesses on the future of e-cigarette regulation.
Part of The Dr. Lawrence H. and Roberta Cohn Forums, this event was presented jointly with Reuters on February 14, 2020.
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