Keynote: Balancing Consideration of the Risks and Benefits of E-Cigarettes

Regarding e-cigarettes, most US health organizations, media coverage, and policymakers focus on risks to youth. Due to their messaging, much of the public – including smokers – incorrectly consider vaping as dangerous as smoking. Policies intended to reduce adolescent vaping may also reduce adult smokers’ use of e-cigarettes in quit attempts. Because evidence indicates that e-cigarette use can increase the odds of quitting smoking, the health community, media, and policymakers should more carefully weigh vaping’s potential to reduce adult smoking-attributable mortality. This presentation provides an overview of the health risks of e-cigarette use, the likelihood that vaping increases smoking cessation, concerns about youth vaping, and the need to balance valid concerns about risks to youth with the potential benefits of increasing adult smoking cessation.