New Year’s Resolutions for 2020: “Quit, Don’t Switch” to E-Cigs

Along with hitting the gym more often and starting a diet, quitting smoking tops many New Year’s resolution lists. There are currently 1,887,100 million smokers in New York State and nearly 61% of them tried to quit last year. New ads from e-cigarettes companies would have those smokers falsely believe that switching to vaping is quitting smoking. The American Lung Association is reminding New Yorkers that the Food and Drug Administration has not found any e-cigarette to be safe and effective in helping smokers quit.

This year, the Lung Association is encouraging smokers to “Quit, Don’t Switch” with the proven-effective Freedom From Smoking®Plus program at Lung.org/quit-dont-switch.

PJ Tedeschi, Director, Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island, said, “Misinformation about the health risks of vaping is rampant and e-cigarette use among youth has been declared an “epidemic” by the U.S. Surgeon General. The simple truth is that e-cigarettes are tobacco products, and the Lung Association has been helping people avoid and quit using tobacco for decades. As New Year’s inspires a new group of smokers to quit―we hope to direct them to proven-effective strategies and FDA-approved medications, while helping them understand that e-cigarettes are not the answer.”

Tedeschi also offered these facts about e-cigarettes:

• E-cigarettes are tobacco products. No tobacco product is safe, and that includes e-cigarettes. Recent hospitalizations and deaths related to vaping underscore the fact that vaping is in fact harmful.
• Switching to e-cigarettes does not mean quitting. Quitting means ending your addiction to nicotine, which can be very difficult.
• Research shows that e-cigarettes contain dangerous metals and toxic chemicals that can cause irreversible lung disease.
• Get the facts at Lung.org/ecigs

“One of the biggest problems with e-cigarettes is that many times people become dual users, meaning they smoke cigarettes when they can and use vaping devices at other times," says Albert A. Rizzo, M.D., American Lung Association Chief Medical Officer. “Using e-cigarettes is not safe: a new study released in December found adults who currently or ever used e-cigarettes are 30 percent more likely to develop chronic lung disease, including asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.”

For years, the American Lung Association has been urging the FDA to crack down on these unproven quit smoking claims made by the e-cigarette industry. These ongoing claims have made it more confusing for smokers to know what to do when they’re ready to quit.

For media interested in speaking with an expert about e-cigarettes, lung health, tobacco use and tobacco policies, contact the American Lung Association at Jennifer.Solomon@lung.org

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About the American Lung Association

The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease, through research, education and advocacy. The work of the American Lung Association is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to improve the air we breathe; to reduce the burden of lung disease on individuals and their families; and to eliminate tobacco use and tobacco-related diseases. For more information about the American Lung Association, a holder of the coveted 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a Gold-Level GuideStar Member, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org.

About New York State Bureau of Tobacco Control

The NYS Tobacco Control Program is made up of a network of statewide contractors who work on Advancing Tobacco-Free Communities, which includes Community Engagement and Reality Check, the Health Systems for a Tobacco-Free New York, the NYS Smokers’ Quitline and Surveillance and Research. Their efforts are leading the way toward a tobacco-free society. For more information, visit TobaccoFreeNYS.org, TobaccoFreeNY.organd NYSmokeFree.Com.

Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island (TAC)is funded by the NYS Tobacco Control Program through a grant administered by the American Lung Association.