Nicotine / THR - Statements from Experts

The following experts are speaking out in support of adult use of Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) products to help people quit smoking and to prevent relapse.

Tobacco Control / TC (Past or Present)

Kenneth Warner

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• Photo: University of Michigan
• Source: Article by Marc Gunther
• Author of: How to Think—Not Feel—about Tobacco Harm Reduction

Steven Schroeder

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• Photo: E-Cig Summit 2020
• Source: Article by Marc Gunther and Source: Article by Thomas Fuller

Mitch Zeller, JD

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• Photo: FDA

Tom Miller

Iowa Attorney General

The harm of the combustible cigarette is dramatically greater than the harm of the e-cigarette

"The combustible cigarette is by far the most harmful consumer product known to mankind, killing 480,000 people each year in the United States alone. This is largely due to the many deadly toxins created and released by the combustion. A panel of experts estimates that the e-cigarette is 95 percent less harmful. Some push back on this study, in part questioning the ability to put an exact number on it. Another estimate is 90-98 percent less harmful. But whatever number is correct, e-cigarettes are dramatically less harmful than combustible cigarettes. There has been an effort to say that combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes are equally harmful, that their companies are equally evil, and that they should be strongly regulated the same way. This view is incorrect, but it has gotten significant traction. Polling indicates that 32 percent of Americans believe that combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes are equally harmful. This means that as many as 13 million adult smokers believe them to be equally harmful, and are very unlikely to switch when switching may save their lives. People making misstatements about e-cigarettes have the best of intentions—to keep kids from being addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes. But adults misleading kids to get them to do what we want has always been a failed strategy."

Attorney General Tom Miller is serving in his 10th four-year term as Attorney General of Iowa. He is the longest currently serving attorney general in the nation. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1969. Mr. Miller served as a VISTA volunteer in Baltimore, Maryland, for two years, and then as legislative assistant to U.S. Representative John C. Culver (D-IA). He returned to the Baltimore Legal Aid Bureau as legal education director, and he also taught part-time at the Maryland School of Law. Mr. Miller opened a law practice in McGregor in northeast Iowa and served as city attorney of McGregor and Marquette. He has served as President of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG).

He was actively involved in the establishment of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement and has been a fierce and determined critic of the Tobacco Industry over many years. Tom Miller served on the Board of the Truth Initiative (American Legacy Foundation)

Medical Professionals (No TC Background)

Dr. Fernando Fernandez

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Phillipine College Of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons

Better strategy than watching our patients who smoke die of oral cancer

Renowned Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and International Lecturer, member of the Philippine Dental Association (PDA) and the Philippine College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (PCOMS). He is the past president of the PCOMS and the PDA. Fellow of the International College of Dentists (ICD), International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (IAOMS) and the Asian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (AAOMS).

“We warn our patients who are smokers that smoking is the leading cause of oral cancer and strongly advise them to quit smoking. For those who cannot or do not want to quit smoking by themselves or with currently approved methods, we convince them to switch to non-combustible alternatives,”

Thomas Brandon, PhD

Moffitt Cancer Center

Earlier this year, the findings from a major clinical trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that e-cigarettes were almost twice as effective as the nicotine patch for producing one year of smoking cessation. These findings added to those of other, smaller studies previously published.

“This could be a game-changer for lots of people,” says Thomas Brandon, Ph.D., director of Moffitt’s Tobacco Research and Intervention Program and chair of the Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior. “It means that for smokers who have not been able to quit by using the available medications, vaping might be worth a try. But it is important to completely switch from smoking to vaping to get the most health benefits.”

Thomas Brandon, PhD, is the Director of the Tobacco Research and Intervention Program and Chair of the Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior at Moffitt Cancer Center. He is also Professor of Psychology and Oncologic Sciences at the University of South Florida

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The Truth Initiative, too, once embraced harm reduction. Its former board chairman, Tom Miller, Iowa’s long-serving attorney general, still argues that e-cigarettes are a “means to saving millions of lives.” Cheryl Healton, its former CEO, and David Abrams, formerly executive director of the Schroeder National Institute of Tobacco Research and Policy Studies, which is housed at the Truth Initiative, are harm-reduction advocates. So is Steven Schroeder, for whom the institute is named. Found here

John Britton There are other arguments not presented above, and more will arise, but in my view electronic cigarettes represent a potent opportunity to prevent death and disability from smoking. It is therefore important to grasp the opportunity they provide while also managing the risks to minimise any unwanted effects. I therefore propose that electronic cigarettes are an opportunity that health professionals should welcome and develop, and use them to help prevent death and disability from smoking in our society.

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Lynn Kozlowski

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Dr. Sudhanshu Patwardhan

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Dr. Derek Yach

• “We’ve been very clear that we support provisions that children should never vape or smoke. However, our main objective is to help adult smokers quit by making cessation aids accessible and to support adult smokers switching to approved harm reduction products. These include snus, e-cigarettes, heated-tobacco products and nicotine pouches,” says Yach. “In the long term, tackling cessation together with harm reduction is the only way to bring smoking rates down relatively soon. If today’s adult smokers quit or switch, even into their fifties or sixties, they will see improvements in their quality of life.”

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