Yes, e-cigarettes work

This news, from the BBC, confirms what those of us who have switched to e-cigarettes already know...

E-cigarettes 'help smokers to quit'

Smokers who use e-cigarettes to quit are more likely to succeed than those who use willpower alone or buy nicotine replacement therapies, such as patches or gum, a study suggests.

The survey of nearly 6,000 smokers found a fifth had quit with the aid of e-cigarettes.

That was 60% higher than those who did not use the devices, the study said.

This is not the first study to come to this conclusion—see, for example, here and here—so it would be nice if 'health experts' would stop claiming that there is no evidence that e-cigarettes 'work'.

I am very confident that we will see further evidence mount up in the next year or two, especially when researchers study people who use second and third generation e-cigarettes, ie. the ones that really work (which also happen to be the ones the EU is keenest to ban).

Meanwhile, the "knowingly dishonest" Stanton Glantz and his cronies at UCSF will continue to make fools of themselves by claiming that black is white thereby speeding up the process by which they are exposed and disgraced.


UPDATE

Robert West hits the nail on the head in the Guardian:

Pharmaceutical companies such as GSK and Pfizer, which make smoking cessation drugs, are among the opponents of e-cigarettes. "They are losing sales hand over fist to e-cigarettes and are incentivised to make it appear they are not effective," said West.

A section of the public health community is also hostile. "It is related to a broad distaste for large corporations making large amounts of money out of psychoactive drugs," he said.

"You might see some of it as a puritanical ethic, which is a strong driver."

As if to prove West's point, Gerard Hastings is wibbling on about Evil Corporations in the BMJ:

“The tobacco multinationals have leapt enthusiastically into this market; all now have major e-cigarette interests. This is not a consumer movement but the full onslaught of corporate capital in hot pursuit of a profitable opportunity.”

Pathetic.