Scientists say vaping alarm is overdone

Washington

A DECADE after electronic cigarettes were introduced in the US, use has flattened, sales have slowed and, this fall, NJoy, once one of the country's biggest e-cigarette manufacturers, filed for bankruptcy.

It is quite a reversal for an invention once billed as the biggest chance to end smoking as we know it and take aim at the country's largest cause of preventable death. Use of the devices is slumping because they are not as good as cigarettes at giving a hit of nicotine. Dealing another strike against them, the country's top public health authorities have sent an unwavering message: Vaping is dangerous.