E-cigarettes could reduce harm: Opposing view

Murray S. Kessler | USATODAY

For too many years, tobacco policy has been mired in an all-or-nothing philosophy. Under this approach, smokers are presented with just one alternative: quit.

This mindset has prevented the implementation of a comprehensive public health strategy designed to reduce tobacco-related disease.

Public health experts have long considered harm reduction an effective approach to limiting risks caused by various behaviors. Applied to tobacco, harm-reduction policies will make great progress. We desperately need to give more flexibility to tobacco users who do not want to quit or find it difficult to do so.

E-cigarettes might be the most significant harm-reduction option ever made available to smokers. They are distinctly different from traditional tobacco cigarettes in that e-cigarettes have no tobacco smoke, no ash, no odor and no combustion resulting in virtually none of the thousands of chemicals present in cigarette smoke.

On the other hand, e-cigarettes are similar to traditional cigarettes, in that they mimic the behavior of traditional smoking.

The result has been a promising harm-reduction product that is gaining tremendous traction and is switching smokers at significant rates. This year alone, we estimate that 2 billion traditional cigarettes won't be smoked in the United States as a result of smokers converting to e-cigarettes.

The Tobacco Control Act of 2009 gave the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco, ushering in an era in which regulation can and should reflect the tobacco harm continuum of risk.

Regulatory actions, including tax policy, should encourage cigarette smokers to switch to e-cigarettes.

A one-size-fits-all policy that treats e-cigarettes similarly to tobacco cigarettes could only result in e-cigarette consumers returning to traditional cigarettes — which simply doesn't make sense from a public health perspective.

Tobacco policy is at a critical juncture. It is time to seize the moment, align the interests of business and public health, and adopt a regulatory policy aimed at shifting tobacco users down the continuum from the most harmful to the less harmful products.

Murray S. Kessler is chairman, president and CEO of Lorillard, Inc., the holding company that owns Lorillard Tobacco Co. and blu eCigs.