I view burned tobacco products like cigarettes, vapes, and “heat not burn” devices like IQOS as a scale of harm, where the most harm is burned tobacco, and the lowest is non participation.
Vaping is WAY closer to non participation than it is to burned tobacco, and I suspect HNB devices are similarly way closer to NP than BTP as well, just not as close as vaping.
When they’re marketed to existing smokers, I think vaping and HNB devices are net goods, they improve people’s health outcomes. They can also be a gateway to cessation, or a step along the way. That’s how I quit smoking a long time ago when vapes first came out.
Full disclosure, while I don’t work directly for the tobacco industry, I do do some work on youth prevention technology for some of these types of products.
I view burned tobacco products like cigarettes, vapes, and “heat not burn” devices like IQOS as a scale of harm, where the most harm is burned tobacco, and the lowest is non participation.
Vaping is WAY closer to non participation than it is to burned tobacco, and I suspect HNB devices are similarly way closer to NP than BTP as well, just not as close as vaping.
When they’re marketed to existing smokers, I think vaping and HNB devices are net goods, they improve people’s health outcomes. They can also be a gateway to cessation, or a step along the way. That’s how I quit smoking a long time ago when vapes first came out.
Full disclosure, while I don’t work directly for the tobacco industry, I do do some work on youth prevention technology for some of these types of products.