Are E-Cigarettes Just as Harmful as Tobacco?

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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The scientific journal Addiction has reviewed the available research on the use, contents and safety of e-cigarettes and determined that they likely are much less harmful to users or bystanders than conventional cigarettes. The long-term health effects of e-cigarette use may be unknown, and further research is needed, but current evidence does not justify regulating e-cigarettes as strictly as or more strictly than conventional cigarettes.

Peter Hajek of Queen Mary University of London led an international team of leading tobacco researchers in conducting the review. Hajek said that the evidence was clear:

e-cigarettes should be allowed to compete against conventional cigarettes in the marketplace. Health care professionals may advise smokers who are unwilling to cease nicotine use to switch to e-cigarettes. Smokers who have not managed to stop with current treatments may also benefit from switching to e-cigarettes.

The rising popularity of e-cigarettes has not only spurred the rise of upstarts in the business, such as NJOY, which last year had as much as 40% of the market, but big tobacco companies like Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO) are staking out a share of the market as well. The benefits of Lorillard’s blu eCig brand have been hawked on television by celebrity Jenny McCarthy.

But when Lorillard posted its quarterly earnings this week, it said profits were hurt by declining e-cigarette sales. The company cited increased competition as a major cause for the fall-off. Larger tobacco companies Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) and Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) are rolling out their own e-cigarettes brands — Vuse and MarkTen – nationwide this summer.

ALSO READ: The Next 9 States to Legalize Marijuana

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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