The rise of “cancel culture,” fueled by opponents of smoke-free technology, is impeding progress in public health efforts to combat smoking, according to tobacco harm reduction experts.
Dr. Marewa Glover, a leading public health researcher from New Zealand, told the Global Forum on Nicotine that various groups are waging a “culture war” against tobacco harm reduction (THR).
These groups, she said, are using tactics to force their beliefs on others. “As a professor of public health, I’m concerned about many threats to public health,” Glover said. “The strategies being used include canceling people and threatening those who won’t comply with their public health agenda.”
Glover said this discourages more smokers from switching to potentially less harmful alternatives to traditional cigarettes.
THR promotes the use of cigarette alternatives that don’t burn and don’t produce smoke, such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and oral nicotine pouches. Although these products contain nicotine, the substance does not cause cancer. Studies demonstrate that the absence of burning and smoke, which contain harmful chemicals, lessens the risk of disease and health problems.
“One strategy in this culture war is to create polarization, split people, facilitate doubt, create fear, and encourage people to feel anger towards those people who have a different point of view,” Glover said at the forum in Warsaw, Poland.
Glover was among the panelists who discussed the nature of the THR debate, including the goals of different factions and tactics such as misinformation, emotional appeals, and personal attacks.
Dr. Rohan Andrade de Sequeira, a cardio-metabolic physician with more than 25 years of experience in India and the United Kingdom, cited India’s e-cigarette ban as an example of a policy misguided by this “culture war.”
“The ban actually led to a surge in youth vaping,” Sequeira said. “A complete ban creates a black market for these products, removes regulatory oversight, and exposes users to potentially dangerous, unregulated devices.”
“The moment the vape ban came into place, there was a sudden surge in the usage of devices among the youth, which basically did the exact opposite of what it was supposed to have done. There should have been a regulation,” he said.
“Whenever you have any kind of prohibition, whether it’s drugs or alcohol, you just drive the whole thing underground. And then you see this booming black market. You don’t have any regulatory control over that. You don’t get any taxes out of that. You’re getting products which have no quality control, no quality analysis,” said Sequiera. “That makes the entire matter worse, because now people are falling sick because of inferior quality products.”
Sequeira also disputed the idea that vaping is a “gateway” to smoking, especially among young people.
“In 2018, there was a survey which was conducted in India that 20 million kids in the age group of 10 to 14 smoked at least 5 to 10 cigarettes a year. That’s more than the population of some countries, and in the last 24 hours, 650,000 kids in India smoked a cigarette every day. What gateway are we talking about?” he said.
Sequeira said misinformation also exists within the medical community. “The issue is that 95 percent to 99 percent of doctors in India have no clue what THR is. And everything about THR is all based on perceptions and miscommunication, misrepresentation and false messaging,” he said.
Both Glover and Sequeira stressed the importance of education and countering misinformation to promote informed decision-making among medical professionals and the public.
Global Forum on Nicotine conference director Jessica Harding said more than 100 million people worldwide have already switched to vaping and other THR products to quit smoking.
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