Evidence-Based Advocacy: How Consumer Groups Are Learning to Use Science
Nicotine consumer advocacy was once driven by personal testimony—'vaping saved my life.' It's increasingly driven by evidence—systematic reviews, population data, and policy analysis. The shift from testimony to evidence is transforming consumer advocacy's credibility.
The early consumer advocacy for vaping was passionate but scientifically naive—personal stories of quitting smoking, powerful but anecdotal. The new consumer advocacy is increasingly evidence-based—citing systematic reviews, analyzing population data, and engaging with the scientific literature on its own terms. **The shift from testimony to evidence is transforming consumer advocacy's credibility. The public health establishment can dismiss personal stories. It's harder to dismiss peer-reviewed evidence—especially when the consumers citing it have read it more carefully than the establishment that wrote it.**
