FEATURE
YOU DON ’ T KNOW NICOTINE
Aaron Biebert ’ s new documentary is out now but whose side is it really on ?
Words : Caroline Barry
You Don ’ t Know Nicotine is Aaron Biebert ’ s second documentary on the subjects of smoking and vaping . The first , A Billion Lives , focused on smoking but this one puts nicotine itself under the spotlight and focuses on how it is costing us thousands of lives . The film challenges our assumptions that nicotine is bad per se by showing how little we actually know about the tobacco plant , it ’ s uses and the actual scientific benefits to it . We are very seldom told that nicotine could potentially help with precursors to Alzheimer ’ s disease or those with mild memory loss . We are not encouraged to think of nicotine as a positive thing or something that can be taken as a medication or involved in medical studies . Vaping is mentioned in the film from the outset with references to the ‘ teen epidemic ’ that dominated headlines last year but takes the view that despite the negative headlines , vaping is not the enemy . On teen vaping , Swedish psychologist Karl Fagerstrom says it has proved to be an enduring topic because people get emotional when talking about kids . He said : “ I ’ m afraid that there are people that find it so hard to see only one kid getting addicted to nicotine , so therefore they would deny e-cigarettes being on the market .
“ On the other hand , you have thousands and maybe millions of adult smokers who are not close to dying yet , are aged 20 or 30 and could benefit from e-cigarettes . “ How many saved lives do you need to measure up to one addicted kid ? This is more emotional than mathematic or scientific . It ’ s a superficial argument when you don ’ t see the whole spectrum of the problem .” Biebert says we need to get more serious about how we consume nicotine and urges smokers to seriously consider harm reduction alternatives such as snus and vaping . The team visited Sweden to discuss snus , where one-in-five young men use it as a smoking alternative . It is a welcome relief to see a film balance the debate about vaping . Biebert does give some air time to the usual suspects when it comes to anti-vaping sentiment or lobbying . Although Stanton Glantz may not be too happy with his portrayal , the film introduces him as a ‘ recognised leader ’ and he is the first anti-tobacco voice to feature . While the film mentions his publications and qualifications , it fails to mention that Glantz has had papers withdrawn last year but it does get a subtle hint in that Glantz ’ s anti-tobacco theories may be viewed as outdated . Glantz criticizes the UK ’ s Royal College of Physicians , which has
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