E-cigarette info for parents

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse in New York launched a new online resource, called “Expert views: e-cigarettes,” as part of efforts to help parents better understand vapor products, including the health risks/benefits of the devices and whether they aid smoking cessation.

The center has hired global public relations agency Porter Novelli to conduct an online audit, which found that much of the information available about the use, risks and benefits of eVapor products is inconsistent, inaccurate and confusing.

Linda Richter, director of policy research and analysis at the center, said the use of the devices among young people and the prevailing perception that vaping is harmless “highlight the tobacco industry’s ability to dominate public impressions about the safety of these products.”

Samuel A. Ball, president and CEO at the center, said the resource is aimed at helping the public “make sense of the often confusing and contradictory information that is available on the risks and benefits of e-cigarettes and to help parents exercise the critical influence we know they have on their children’s choices regarding nicotine use.”