Yesterday, I was informed by one of the contributing authors to the 2014 Surgeon General's report that each of the authors and reviewers of the report was required to complete conflict of interest disclosure forms. This makes the problem even more serious than it initially appeared. It now seems that this is not merely a matter of the CDC not knowing about, or failing to inquire about the conflicts of interest of report authors. Instead, this is now a matter of the CDC hiding, or covering up, these conflicts of interest, which are not revealed to the public anywhere in the report or on the report's web site.

What the story demonstrates is that Dr. Glantz has a pre-determined set of conclusions about electronic cigarettes and the tobacco companies' role in inappropriately marketing these products to addict a new generation of kids. When presented with information, he jumps to an immediate interpretation and conclusion that supports his pre-determined schema. Instead of exercising critical judgment and objective evaluation of the evidence, he immediately twists the facts to support his pre-existing position. Dr. Glantz is just one example of a phenomenon that characterizes a number of researchers and tobacco control groups that are vehement opponents of electronic cigarettes for ideological, rather than valid scientific reasons.

In order to introduce a new electronic cigarette product to the market, the manufacturer will have to demonstrate that the product is beneficial to the public's health. This does not simply mean that one must demonstrate that the product is safer than cigarettes. The applicant also needs to show that the introduction of the product into the market will not deter smokers from quitting or encourage youth to start using the product. At the present time, there is a substantial body of opinion among tobacco control experts that electronic cigarettes do not reduce population risk. Therefore, how can we expect that a manufacturer could demonstrate, at the level of proof required, something which most tobacco control experts do not even agree with?

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Should the cigarette tax be raised?

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