3030年8月13日
在致美国食品和药物管理局（FDA）专员斯蒂芬·哈恩（Stephen Hahn）博士的信中，几位美国议员敦促该机构在冠状病毒疫情期间清理所有电子烟的市场。
这封给哈恩的信于本周初发送，其论据是基于最近的数据，该数据声称电子烟会增加感染新冠肺炎的风险。 “对于年仅13岁的电子烟民来说确实如此，这尤其令人担忧，因为年轻人越来越多地推动新冠病毒的传播，威胁到各个年龄段的美国人的健康和安全。”
此外，这封信继续询问汉恩，他是否可以确认所有这些工作将在8月18日之前一周完成。这封信是由众议院监督与改革委员会经济与消费者政策小组委员会主席拉贾·克里斯纳莫托蒂（D-IL）代表该小组委员会撰写的。
将电子烟与冠状病毒相关联的研究
提示这封信的数据来自一项研究，该研究报告了冠状病毒与电子烟之间的关系，称电子烟民感染该病毒的风险高5至7倍。
“我们认为我们会看到一些关系。我们没想到发生这种关系的可能性会增加五到七倍。这项新研究的负责人，加州斯坦福大学儿童医学教授兼青少年医学研究主管哈珀恩·费尔瑟说，这真是太庞大了。
该研究发表在《青少年健康杂志》上，还发现，在过去30天内报告有雾气的受访者接受新冠病毒检验的可能性高3.6倍。
哈珀恩·费尔瑟表示：“因为我们提出确切的要求之后，大约有一半的样本已经就位，但这并不意味着他们没有和朋友背地里分享他们的电子烟产品。”与被诊断出新冠患者分享产品、碰触脸部或可能通过电子烟的烟雾吸入含有该病毒的飞沫可能感染上冠状病毒。这需要更多的研究。 “我们不知道。这些都是假设，”哈珀恩·费尔瑟说。 “我实际上是以上所有都是可能的。”
同时，减害专家不断指出，鉴于已知电子烟比卷烟更安全，因此仍建议吸烟者改用电子烟。此外，数据表明，无法使用电子烟产品只会使吸烟者重回吸烟场所。
在禁止吸电子烟的同时保留卷烟，这是灾难的根源
考虑到这一点，屡获殊荣的Riccardo Polosa博士是世界著名的电子烟和减害科学家和研究人员，他解释了为什么关闭可出售更安全替代品的销售点，同时又保留出售可燃卷烟的荒谬做法。
“最重要的是，成千上万的电子烟民将面临重回吸烟的风险。我认为这是公共卫生问题。同样，许多患有呼吸系统疾病的电子烟者通过吸电子烟减少了其症状，通过停止吸电子烟，我们会发现呼吸系统疾病的急性加重上升。当您拥有ICU病床而没有其他可用空间时，这对国家卫生系统将是极为不利的。”
US Lawmakers Pressure FDA to Temporarily Halt E-Cig Sales Due to Covid
August 13, 3030
In a letter addressed to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, several US lawmakers are urging the agency to clear the market of all e-cigarettes for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.
Sent earlier this week, the letter addressed to Hahn, bases its arguments on recent data claiming that vaping increases one’s risk of contracting Covid-19 and suffering symptoms. “This is true in vapers as young as 13, which is particularly concerning, given that young people are increasingly driving the spread of COVID-19, threatening the health and safety of Americans of all ages.”
Moreover, the letter goes on to ask Hahn whether he can confirm that all this will be done withing a week, by August 18th. Written by Rep. Raja KRIShnAMOorthi (D-IL), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, the letter was written on behalf of the subcommittee.
A study linking vaping to Covid
The data prompting the letter was derived from a study reporting a relationship between Covid and vaping, saying that vapers are between five to seven times more at risk of contracting the virus.
“We thought that we’d see some relationship. We did not expect to see a five to seven times more likely relationship. That’s huge,” said Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, professor of pediatrics and director of research in the division of adolescent medicine at Stanford University in California, who led the new study.
Published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, the study also found that respondents who reported vaping in the past 30 days were 3.6 times more likely to be tested for Covid-19.
“about half of the sample was sheltering in place — because we did ask that — but that doesn’t mean they’re not in the backyard with a friend sharing their vaping product,” Halpern-Felsher said, adding that this increased risk to be diagNOSed with Covid-19 could be tied to exposure to the coronavirus from sharing products, touching your face more or possibly breathing in droplets containing the virus through the aerosols of an e-cigarette. More research is needed. “We don’t know. These are hypotheses,” Halpern-Felsher said. “I actually think it’s all of the above.”
Meanwhile, tobacco harm reduction experts keep pointing out that given that e-cigarettes are known to be safer than cigarettes, switching to vaping is still recommended for smokers. Additionally, data has indicated that making vaping products unavailable would just push smokers back to smoking.
Banning e-cigs whilst leaving cigarettes available is a recipe for disaster
With this in mind, award winning Dr. Riccardo Polosa, who is a world-renowned scientist and researcher on vaping and tobacco harm reduction, had explained why it would be ridiculous to close outlets that sell safer alternatives, whilst leaving combustible cigarettes available for sale.
“Most importantly, hundreds of thousands of vapers would have been at risk of gatewaying back to smoking. It was an issue of public health in my opinion. Also, many vapers with respiratory diseases have seen a curtailment of their symptoms by vaping, and by stopping vaping we would have seen a rise in acute exaceRBAtion in respiratory disease. This would have been extremely detrimental to the national health system at a time when you have ICU beds occupied and not available for anything else,” he said earlier this year.
