Nicotine is detrimental to the heart and blood vessels, regardless of whether it is ingested via a vape, a pouch, a shisha or a cigarette, according to an expert consensus paper published in the European Heart Journal. This paper gathers the findings of all the literature in the area and is the first to examine the harms of all nicotine items, rather than just smoking.
The paper points out a striking surge in the consumption of vapes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches, especially among adolescents and young adults, with proof that three-quarters of young adult vapers have never smoked cigarettes before.
The writers of the paper are appealing for immediate measures to restrain the increasing number of adolescents and young people becoming dependent on nicotine, particularly a prohibition on flavors and social media and influencer promotion, and meaningful taxation and control across all nicotine items.
The paper was authored by Professor Thomas Münzel from University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany, Professor Filippo Crea from Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy, Professor Sanjay Rajagopalan from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Cleveland, U.S., and Professor Thomas F. Lüscher from Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals, London, UK, President of the European Society of Cardiology.
The document arrives at a crucial regulatory juncture, subsequent to the European Commission’s revised Tobacco Taxation Directive, which for the first time introduces a minimum tax on e-liquids, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches.
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