Pro-Vapeo Mexico

Pro-Vapeo México AC is a non-profit civil association.

We are made up of people interested in publicizing and promoting the value of the health benefits of replacing smoking with the consumption of products that supply nicotine without combustion, which is why they are substantially less harmful than traditional cigarettes. . These products are the electronic cigarette or personal vaporizer, oral tobacco or Swedish snus and tobacco products heated without combustion: the so-called HnB (Heat not Burn) products.

We are a consumer organization that exclusively represents the interests of consumers in Mexico. Our civil association shares the principles, and is an active member, of the International Network of Consumers of Nicotine Products(INNCO for its acronym in English), a Non-Governmental Organization that globally promotes the strategy of Reducing Harm from Smoking by substituting tobacco cigarettes for non-combustible nicotine delivery products. Both Pro-Vapeo México, like all the national organizations that make up INNCO, have the support and advice of doctors and other health professionals who are experts in smoking and addictions. In addition to the support of INNCO, we have direct advice from experts who support our general objectives of promoting the harm reduction approach of smoking.

The absolute prohibition in Mexico regarding the commercialization of new non-combustible technologies to consume nicotine has prevented adult smokers from having open and legal access to considerably less harmful alternatives. We emphasize that the enormous decrease in risk with respect to tobacco smoking is not a rhetorical or speculative claim: it is amply supported by solid and verifiable scientific evidence.

It is probably true that smokers would get the most health benefit from completely stopping tobacco and nicotine use, and similarly, those who completely abstain from fatty or sugary foods would get the most benefit. However, access to products that reduce health risks should be a legal option available to consumers. Therefore, health professionals and authorities have an ethical and legal obligation (consumer rights / right to information) to communicate all available information regarding the various alternatives available to consumers, even more so when we are talking about Harm reduction alternatives in the face of the enormous health risk represented by the perpetuation of smoking.

Based on the above, our main interest is to disseminate verifiable information and sensitize health authorities, politicians, the media and the general population of the need to openly and inclusively discuss the implementation of public reduction policies. of harms and risks in smoking, especially for those who cannot or do not want to quit smoking. We also seek to regulate the devices associated with this harm reduction in a sensible and proportional manner to the risk they represent. And that this regulation is always based on the best available scientific evidence.

Concerned about the misinformation that exists in Mexico regarding the electronic cigarette and other products that are part of the reduction of harm from smoking, we have given ourselves the task of creating this Internet site, and in this regard it is important to emphasize:

• We are convinced by scientific evidence that the damage to health from smoking is due to the toxic and carcinogenic substances present in traditional cigarette smoke, not to the nicotine consumed when smoking. Today there are much lower risk alternatives.
• We believe that it is the right of adult smokers to be able to access lower risk alternatives that can help them reduce their use of tobacco cigarettes or, better yet, quit smoking altogether. That decision is personal and must be informed and responsible.
• We declare in the most emphatic way possible that we do not approve the use of non-combustible nicotine consumption products by minors. For this reason, we support any public policy that maintains these products as products for the exclusive use of adults. However, we believe that such policies should not use the strict restriction of use by minors as a pretext to impose unacceptable restrictions and obstacles to the use of the products by adults.
• We do not promote the electronic cigarette, or any of the other non-combustible products, as the only option to the detriment of medical alternatives to quit smoking (patches, gum or medications) or nicotine withdrawal. However, we believe that harm reduction is a valuable alternative that should also be available to the consumer along with the others.
• Regarding the science of the electronic cigarette and other non-combustible products, we are not expressing our own expert opinion, as we are not experts in smoking. We are translating, summarizing, and disseminating expert-derived evidence that already exists in the literature (we cited over 300 studies), including sources that are adverse to e-cigarettes and other products. We provide explicit references to this literature so that anyone can consult the sources and verify that our summaries and our translation of them are correct and reliable. Most of the cited and summarized sources are freely accessible. Those that are not can be obtained through bibliographic means.
• We also express our own opinions and criticisms, as we are informed consumers and we also have the right to express our opinion. We accept our professional limitations and the texts of the web pages clearly demarcate our comments. Although we are not medical doctors or tobacco experts, in some aspects of the evaluation of the electronic cigarette (and other harm reduction products) we have professional knowledge that allows us to give a qualified opinion, for example: statistics, physics and chemistry of aerosols, or in legal and ethical aspects.

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President . Dr. Roberto Allan Sussman Livovsky. roberto.sussman@provapeo.org.mx

Secretary . Mr. Tomás O'Gorman Merino. tomas.ogorman@provapeo.org.mx

Founding Member . Master Juan José Cirión Lee. juan.cirion@provapeo.org.mx

Founding Member . Erik Atakan Befrits

Scientific advisers (*)

Professor Riccardo Polosa,

Prof. Riccardo Polosa, MD, PhD

Full Professor of Internal Medicine

University of Catania, Italy

Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos, MD

Researcher.

Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, Athens Greece

University of Patras, Greece

National School of Public Health, Greece

David B Abrams PhD.

Professor, Dept of Social and Behavioral Sciences

NYU College of Global Public Health. New York University.

New York University,

College of Global Public Health

Joel L. Nitzkin, MD, MPH, DPA

Principal Consultant,

JLN, MD Associates, LLC

Senior Fellow for Tobacco Policy,

R Street Institute

Dr Carl V Philips

Independent researcher and consultant

PhD's in Epidemiology and Economics

Former Scientific Director of CASAA.

David Nutt DM FRCP FRCPsych FMedSci DLaws

Prof of Neuropsychopharmacology

Imperial College Burlingto, n Danes Building

Hammersmith Hospital

Du Cane Rd, London, W12 0NN