The article “E-cigs, smokeless tobacco, less nicotine can curb smoking” (Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Aug. 10) argues that e-cigarettes should be promoted as an effective strategy for helping people kick the habit. Unfortunately, this is contrary to the facts.

The article cites only one paper, based on population statistics, which suggested that e-cigarettes are correlated with cessation. What the author does not tell you is that 20 studies, which followed actual smokers over time, have shown the opposite. The latest update in Annual Reviews of Public Health concludes that smokers who use e-cigarettes are 30 percent less likely to quit than those who don’t. Moreover, a study just published in Preventive Medicine shows that smokers who use e-cigarettes smoke more often and smoke more cigarettes, not fewer.

The tobacco companies want to keep people addicted to nicotine. Don’t buy it. If you currently smoke, quit. If you are tobacco- free, don’t start: you are better off breathing clean air.

Thomas A. Wills

Cancer Prevention in the Pacific Program

University of Hawaii Cancer Center

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It’s wrong to confuse vaping with smoking

I agree with your editorial opposing a ban on smoking or vaping in cars bearing young children (“Don’t overreach with smoking ban,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, Aug. 11).

However, I am writing to correct your reference to “electronic smoking devices.”

Smoking entails burning tobacco and inhaling the smoke. Burning is the main reason that smoking is so dangerous, parti- cularly to the lungs.

What is called vaping does not entail burning tobacco. Consequently it has been shown to be a much safer activity and an effective alternative to smoking. Vaping should not be confused with smoking.

Carl H. Zimmerman

Salt Lake

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Righteousness over Kema case criticized

I note Lillian Koller’s outrage as to how the “system” failed Peter Boy Kema (“For Peter Boy, justice was denied,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Aug. 9). As court-appointed special master to the case, I — like Koller — reviewed the 2,000-plus pages of Department of Human Services records and several thousand pages of law-enforcement records.

What I didn’t do is take those confidential records and write a book about this family, absent their knowledge, re-victimizing them in the process, despite a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that specifically prohibited such conduct.

I agree that Peter Boy’s suffering and death should have been prevented and that Hawaii’s child protection services failed him terribly. DHS failed him just as it failed the many foster children abused by Zack and Krystine Morris, failing to properly vet the Morrises and certifying them to care for up to four foster children in June 2010 when Koller headed the DHS.

Something about glass houses and stones comes to mind.

Steve Lane

Manoa

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‘The Interview’ film sparked Kim tensions

In Asia, honor is held above all else. Is Kim Jong Un saving face? All this saber-rattling started after a movie about an attempted asassination of him was made public.

In the United States, we have laws that protect free speech. If we abuse it there are very few consequences. We as a people should be conscious of what we say and do. Comedy can be enjoyed without demeaning others. Now we as a people may be involved in a war that could have been started by a few comedians who thought it would be fun to mock a living person.

I believe an apology from Sony Pictures and the cast of the movie, “The Interview,” is warranted to lower the level of tension in this matter.

Stewart Chun

Mililani

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Horrific war would be ultimate failure

Our president made the statement, “Fire and fury the likes of which the world has never seen” — a pretty cavalier comment from someone who’s never experienced the byproducts of war.

In the movie “Doctor Strangelove,” the comment was made: “I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than 10 to 20 million killed, tops. Uh, depending on the breaks.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the chubby guy with the funny haircut, is thin-skinned, erratic and unpredictable. All he’s looking for is praise from his minions and an outlet for his insecure manhood.

We need to stand up and shout, “Not in our name.”

As one who has experienced the horrors and brutalities of war, I know war is not to be glorified. War is the ultimate failure. There are no winners, just survivors.

Where are the adults to tell the children to go to their rooms for a timeout?

Chuck Cohen

Hawaii Kai