opinion

E-cigarettes can help smokers quit, and public officials should take note

In Tennessee, 1.1 million citizens — or 21.9 percent of the population — smoke; this is much higher than the national rate of 15.1 percent.

This year alone, more than 11,000 Tennesseans will die from a smoking-related disease. In comparison to other important issues, the Tennessee Department of Health reports that 1,631 deaths in 2016 were attributable to opioid overdoses.

Despite these staggering statistics, the only assistance provided to addicted smokers in the state is to offer them counseling and nicotine replacement therapy — including patches and gums. Studies related to these products have shown they fail to help smokers more than 90 percent of the time.

To address the state’s opioid crisis, we are looking at increasing the various ways to offer assistance to individuals battling addiction. These options include additional detox days, various levels of counseling or medicine assisted treatments.

Likewise, there are other alternatives to help addicted smokers leave cigarettes. Evidence from numerous studies in this country and from Public Health England, a highly respected arm of the British Department of Health, shows that vapor products and electronic cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than cigarettes.

An August report from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center showed that frequent e-cigarette use helps smokers quit, and the organization supports e-cigarette use as a smoking cessation aid for those trying to quit traditional smoking.

We have the tools, knowledge and legislative will to help improve the lives of addicted smokers in the state, but we must act quickly and decisively in spreading the word about cigarette alternatives.

In 2015, Tennessee passed a comprehensive bill that addresses e-cigarettes. The bill put in place requirements for child-resistant packaging, made underage purchase and possession illegal and wisely excluded these products from the statewide smoking ban.

The bill also directed the Tennessee Department of Health to develop and implement comprehensive tobacco prevention programs, including communications on tobacco harm reduction and the comparative risks of various tobacco products.

This sweeping bill signaled to all parties that legislators were thinking differently about new, innovative products that contain nicotine. We wanted to give these products a chance to help addicted smokers.

In July, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said: “We must acknowledge there is a continuum of risk for nicotine delivery.

The continuum ranges from combustible cigarettes at one end to medicinal nicotine products at the other.

We must also recognize the potential for innovation to lead to less harmful products, which under FDA’s oversight could be part of a solution.”

The positive data and expert analysis which exist for alternative tobacco products should lead public health authorities to take a closer look at the information it is providing to addicted smokers and at the policies that it is recommending in relation to e-cigarettes. After all, they look more like a pathway away from conventional tobacco instead of to it.

I urge my fellow legislators, policymakers and public health officials to join in an effort to educate smokers and move them to alternative smoke-free forms of tobacco. Our health depends on it.

Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, represents District 25 in the Tennessee House of Representatives. He chairs the Health Committee.