Nicotine / THR - Statements from Organizations
"Tobacco Harm Reduction = SAFER than smoking"
The items list below may also be found on this Google Doc
Multinational / International
World Health Organization EURO Office
International Agency for Research on Cancer
European Parliament
SCENIHR - European Commission Directorate-General, Health & Consumer Protection
Cochrane systematic evidence review
- Source / 78 scientific studies (including >34 randomized control trials) involving 22,052 participants in a dozen countries.
15 past presidents of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT)
- Source NOTE: This is not a statement by the SRNT.
World Heart Federation
The Tobacco Atlas
- Source / Vital Strategies was formed out of a merger between World Lung Foundation and The Union.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
European Respiratory Society
Region: England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
UK Department of Health, Towards a Smokefree Generation - A Tobacco Control Plan for England
Office for Health Improvement & Disparities
Public Health England
Royal College of Physicians
British Medical Association
Cancer Research UK
British Lung Foundation
Asthma + Lung UK
Primary Care Respiratory Society
Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation
British Thoracic Society
British Heart Foundation
The British Psychological Society
UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
Royal College of General Practitioners
Royal Society for Public Health
UK Parliament - Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
Stroke Association
Royal College of Occupational Therapists
Action on Smoking and Health UK (ASH)
National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT)
Royal college of Psychiatrists
Faculty of Public Health
Royal Pharmaceutical Society
Royal College of Midwives
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
LGBT Foundation
UK Teratology Information Service
Centre for Mental Health
London Fire Brigade
UK National Fire Chiefs Council
Association of Directors of Public Health North East
Rethink Mental Illness
UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies
Royal College of Nursing
House of Commons Science and Technology Committee (UK)
Heart UK
Association of Directors of Public Health
College of Mental Health Pharmacy
Fresh North East
Healthier Futures
Mental Health Foundation
Mental Health Nurses Association
London Tobacco Alliance
Mental Health Providers Forum
Stop Smoking London
Public Health Action
North East North Cumbria ICB Smokefree
Smokefree Sheffield
Smokefree Yorkshire & Humber
Hertfordshire County Council
Camden and Islington Public Health
Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group
Unite in Health
Public Health Nottinghamshire County
Sheffield City Council
Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre
York Mental Health & Addictions Research Group
Sheffield Children’s
Oral Health Foundation
- Source (Formerly known as the British Dental Health Foundation)
Drug Science UK
Men's Health Forum UK
Community Pharmacy Sheffield
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
Zest Community Centre
Sheffield Health and Social Care
diva Sheffield
Scottish Government
Scottish Directors of Public Health
Scottish Health Promotion Managers
National Health Service Scotland
Action on Smoking and Health Scotland
NHS Lothian
NHS Ayrshire and Arran - Scotland
NHS Glasgow and Clyde - Scotland
Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy
Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland
NHS Tayside
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland
Scottish Consultants in Dental Health
Scottish Thoracic Society
University of Edinburgh
University of Stirling
Health Information and Quality Authority (Ireland)
Irish Cancer Society
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Irish Heart Foundation
Health and Safety Executive
ASH Ireland
Health Service Executive
Men’s Development Network
Dental Health Foundation - Ireland
Mental Health Ireland
Irish Medical Organisation
Irish Pharmacy Union
Men's Health Forum - Ireland
Australia (See Also: "Australia and New Zealand")
Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia)]
Australia and New Zealand
Belgium
Belgian Superior Health Council
“Yes, the e-cigarette has its risks, but is clearly less harmful than a traditional tobacco cigarette. According to the Council, the e-cigarette can therefore be a tool to give up tobacco completely.” [Google Translate]
Canada
Health Canada
“If you are an adult that currently smokes, switching completely to vaping is a less harmful option than continuing to smoke. …Vaping is not known to cause Popcorn lung.” (January 2023) “While vaping products are not harmless, vaping exposes people who smoke to lower levels of harmful chemicals than continuing to smoke.” Statement from Minister of Health (January 16 2023).
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health +3 organizations - Canadian Lower-Risk Nicotine Use Guidelines (LRNUG)
“Funded by Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program, the LRNUG has developed several resources to help guide people who use, or are thinking about using nicotine, on how to lower the risk associated with these products. ...E-cigarettes with nicotine may be an effective cessation aid for people who use combustible tobacco. People who switch from combustible tobacco to e-cigarettes will reduce their exposure to numerous toxicants and carcinogens.” Quick Tips: “Using tobacco in forms that don’t burn, like smokeless tobacco or heat-not-burn products, will reduce your exposure to harmful combusted chemicals including carbon monoxide. [You can] further reduce your risk by switching to products that don’t have tobacco like NRT [e.g., nicotine patches or nicotine gum] or e-cigarettes.” Statement by: CAMH - Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Pharmacists for a Smoke-free Canada, The Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, Centre for Effective Practice
England (See Region: England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales)
France
Collège de la médecine générale (College of General Medicine)
“Concerning the electronic cigarette, we consider it as a risk reduction tool and believe that we should not discourage the smoking patient who is learning to vape with a view to weaning [reducing smoking] by indicating to him that it is necessary to avoid the use concomitant cigarette/e-cigarette.”
Germany
German Society of Addiction (Deutsche Suchtgesellschaft – Dachverband der Suchtfachgesellschaften)
“In general, one can assume that the vapor from an e-cigarette is much less harmful than conventional cigarette smoke and that the e-cigarette can be used for nicotine withdrawal if guideline-based psychotherapeutic and/or drug treatments for nicotine withdrawal are ineffective or unwanted.”
Ireland (See Region: England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales)
Isle of Man
Public Health Isle of Man
“E-cigarettes can be a particularly helpful way to stop smoking tobacco especially when combined with a specialist face to face support. Although experts say they are not entirely risk free, they are at least 95% less harmful than tobacco.”
Luxembourg
Fondation Cancer
“The electronic cigarette … does not contain tobacco. The vapor produced does not contain carbon monoxide or carcinogenic substances in significant quantities. Despite a lack of long-term scientific studies, it probably presents a reduced risk compared to tobacco (if not combined with cigarettes). …In general, we recommend that you vape with the most concentrated liquid possible, in order to reduce your consumption of liquid and therefore your exposure to inhaled substances.” [emphasis in original] [Google Translate]
Malaysia
New Zealand (See Also: "Australia and New Zealand")
Official New Zealand Ministry of Health Position Statement
“Vaping is not harmless but it is much less harmful than smoking. Vaping has the potential to help people quit smoking and contribute to New Zealand’s Smokefree 2025 goal.” Organizations that support this statement include: Health Promotion Agency/Te Hiringa Hauora (HPA), Hāpai te Hauora/Māori Public Health, New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA), Action for Smokefree 2025 (ASH), National Training Service (NTS), All District Health Boards, Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand, New Zealand Heart Foundation, New Zealand College of Midwives, Parents Care Centre
Philippines
2018
Poland
Scotland (See Region: England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales)
United Kingdom (See Region: England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales)
United States
2022
Uruguay
2021
Wales (See Multinational pt. 2/United Kingdom)
Suggestions to add to this page
- Many European authorities, such as the German Federal Risk Assessment Institute and the
Federal Centre for Health Education in Germany, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (Netherlands), and the UK Committees of Toxicity, Mutagenicity, and Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products, and the Environment, focused on the importance of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco as a safe alternative compared to burning cigarettes.