Panagiotis Behrakis, Pulmonologist-Intensivist, Professor of the University of Athens and Head of the Expert Committee of the Ministry of Health, spoke about e-cigarettes and their health risks.
«The electronic cigarette is not innocent, is a form of smoking and nothing else. A person who smokes an electronic cigarette immediately shows a reaction” and we have proven this and it has been very well accepted in the international literature to date, with seven hundred reports on this” he told the First Program.
“So he’s showing a reaction in terms of his breathing mechanics and the inflammatory response of his respiratory system that we measured and all of that is published and accepted. Since then there have been hundreds if not thousands of papers confirming that this whole story is nothing more than a big commercial issue targeting children,” he said.
And he added: “And I will dwell a little on the last one, because here the problem has taken on a very large dimension. The electronic cigarette appears with shapes, designs, colors, aromas and flavors that are clearly aimed at the child. And right now the big problem we have with smoking is exactly this: How are we going to protect our children from the use of e-cigarettes, which is aimed precisely at this age, Elementary and High School.”
“More dangerous than normal – Leads to tumor growth”
As characteristically underlined by Mr. Behrakis, “this is more easily accepted by young children and damages public health as a mechanism for the spread of smoking among children, in the beginning. On today’s occasion, let us emphasize that parents, teachers and society as a whole, should be particularly aware of the fact that the commercial smoking system at the moment he has put all his emphasis on advertisingin the promotion and penetration of this product among elementary and high school children,” he pointed out.
“I’m not talking about the High School because the kids are big there, but the innocent children of 10, 12 and 15 years old are not protected as they should be. And a form of protection, something I would like to see implemented is what I will tell you now: The legislation in Greece prohibits the sale of tobacco products to people under 18 years of age. It is a law that is not enforced at all and I appeal through ERT to do what you think as a communication network so that the state will implement the law itself. We are not asking for anything new,” he stressed.
Asked whether electronic smoking it also allows tumors to growMr. Behrakis underlined that of course this happens since as he said – something they have proven since ’12 – it irritates and causes immediate inflammation. Chronic inflammation changes DNA and leads to the growth of tumors. Our respiratory system is made to breathe clean air. Everything else we put in it we destroy, we spoil it.”
“With ID at the kiosk”
Mr. Behrakis said that the purchase of cigarettes at the kiosk should be done by showing identification. “With ID at the kiosk for buying cigarettes. The barrier must be put into the sale and the proposal we are making from the Commission and these days we will promote it properly, is that you do not allow any stall holder to sell cigarettes without showing identification. Whoever buys cigarettes must show their identity that they are over 18 years old,” he said.
And he concluded: “This should be implemented because in schools there is a booth at the exit and entrance of the school where children go and buy cigarettes. We can’t go on like this. And it is also an international commitment of the country through the World Health Organization that we must prevent the sale of cigarettes to children.”
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