Consequences of anti-vaping propaganda. Calls to Action for Maine, Minnesota, Texas and Alaska. Heads up Delaware. New vaping research. Good and bad public health policies and more!
Scroll to the bottom of this post for a link to the audio/video versions of this post!
CALL TO ACTION // Maine
LD 1550, which would ban the sale of vapor and tobacco products in flavors other than tobacco (includes mint, menthol, and wintergreen) held a public hearing on May 7th.
CASAA is watching this bill closely. Join CASAA and follow us on social media for Call to Action updates and be ready to take action!
READ MORE: Maine – Stop a Flavor Ban!
DO MORE: If you live in Maine, join the CASAA Maine Facebook Group
CALL TO ACTION // Minnesota
A 95% vape device tax is in the state omnibus budget bill. Contact Taxes Conference Committee members & urge them to reject more taxes on safer alternatives to smoking and keep the expanded vapor tax out of the budget!
READ MORE: Minnesota – Fight a Vape Tax!
DO MORE: If you live in Minnesota, join the CASAA Minnesota Facebook Group
CALL TO ACTION // Texas
HB 211, which would significantly increase the cost of harm-reducing nicotine e-liquids, is moving to a vote by the full House. Please take action today and send a message to your state rep urging them to oppose HB211!
READ MORE: Texas – Stop a Vapor Tax! (HB 211)
DO MORE: If you live in Texas, join the CASAA Texas Facebook Group
CALL TO ACTION // Alaska
HB 110 would enact a 75% wholesale tax on e-liquids, vaping devices, and components. (HB 110 is the House version of SB 45). The House Finance Committee held a public hearing for this bill on May 7th.
CASAA is watching this bill closely. Join CASAA and follow us on social media for Call to Action updates and be ready to take action!
READ MORE: Alaska – Stop a Vapor Tax! (HB 110)
DO MORE: If you live in Alaska, join the CASAA Alaska Facebook Group
HEADS UP! // Delaware
Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown and state attorney general Kathy Jennings are coming after your flavors, based on lies that “flavors hook kids” (national surveys show that youth don’t vape because of flavors) and that youth vaping is growing (surveys also show that it’s actually declining!)
Delaware AG @DE_DOJ exposes her ignorance of the facts with regard to e-cigarettes by calling for a ban on all flavored e-cig products because of the youth epidemic.https://t.co/ZyMf3q9JfS
— Freedom of Choice (@LanceChurchill) May 6, 2021
READ MORE: Delaware must act to end sale of all flavored tobacco
DO MORE: If you live in Delaware, join the CASAA Delaware Facebook Group
RESEARCH // Exposing Anti-vaping Research Bias
Without knowing how long “dual users” had been vaping or how much they smoked vs vaped, researchers decide it’s probably the vaping increasing the symptoms. Also found: exclusive vaping did not increase risk of new symptoms!
https://twitter.com/dogkisser/status/1312060117895057411
READ MORE: Dual Use of ENDS, Smoking Tobacco Increases Risk of Incident Respiratory Symptoms
RESEARCH // Correcting Anti-vaping Research
Researchers replicate study–allegedly linking vaping to respiratory disease–by Bhatta & Glantz. When they looked more closely at the never-smokers, they found “no evidence that current or former e-cigarette use is associated with respiratory disease.”
Oh dear! Another @ProfGlantz study being carefully scrutinised. How could this be? Glantz claimed #Vaping causes respiratory disease
New Research Questions Link Between E-Cigarettes and Respiratory Disease – Foundation for a Smoke-Free World https://t.co/ugVXVRe6B4
— Alex Wodak (@AlexWodak) August 28, 2020
READ MORE: E-Cigarettes and Respiratory Disease: A Replication, Extension, and Future Directions
RESEARCH // Bad for Public Health
A new study suggests laws that were pushed through due to misinformation about EVALI and nicotine vapor products in Massachusetts actually caused an increase in smoking throughout Boston.
Filter Magazine’s Alex Norcia writes, “Even if their ultimate political goal was a flavor ban or exorbitant ENDS taxes, they can no longer pin the blame on EVALI. They cannot claim that their interventions protected public health; in fact, they may have to concede the reverse.”
A new study strongly suggests that misinformation around the string of vaping-related illnesses in 2019 — eventually linked to a compound in illicit THC cartridges, and not nicotine — increased cigarette consumption. https://t.co/8rozyrGVBz
— Alex Norcia (@Alex_Norcia) May 7, 2021
READ MORE: New Evidence Links “EVALI” Vaping Misinformation With Increased Cigarette Smoking
OPINION // Tobacco Harm Reduction Policy
Misinformation around vaping continues to plague much of the media, state legislatures & the general public. In Florida, at least, the administration refused to be taken in by moral panic benefiting small businesses & better public health alike.”
~Adrian Moore and Guy Bentley
READ MORE: Florida setting the example on vaping regulations
TOBACCO HARM REDUCTION // Advocacy in Action
Canadian vapers and vaping advocates let Toronto’s CN Tower know–in no uncertain terms–why a generic “anti-vaping awareness day” message is very bad for public health. Speak up! #VapingSavesLives
Wow. This initiative can also be called go back to smoking!! Love that a Canadian landmark is being used to encourage people back to smoking. Way to go @TourCNTower https://t.co/2Vn7kES4mK
— Maria Papaioannoy-Duic (@papaioannoy) May 3, 2021
READ MORE: Toronto Vapers Are Up In Arms Over the CN Tower’s Latest Campaign
PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY // Consequences of Anti-Vaping Propaganda
Teen’s letter demonstrates how disinformation and junk science has misled people to believe vaping causes seizures, heart attacks and nicotine overdoses, and contain “over 4,000 chemicals,” including banned chemicals like DDT.
I'm too sick and tired of these blatant misrepresentations to bother correcting them. The numbers and assertions are all warped. But these are the scare tactics being peddled to our youth today. Sad. That's it. That's the tweet.
— David P Forsyth (@DavidPForsyth) May 6, 2021
READ MORE: Vaping is too dangerous to be allowed to flourish unchecked
TAKE ACTION // CASAA State Facebook Groups
Have you joined your CASAA State Facebook group yet? Check it out now! Click the link below, click on your state on the map, then click the Join Now button to go to your state’s group page. It’s as easy as that to stay updated on local happenings, meet local advocates and never miss a Call to Action in your state!
Don’t forget to also follow our official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CASAAmedia
FIND YOUR GROUP: CASAA State Locator
CASAA MEDIA // Podcast
Catch up on past tobacco harm reduction news with Alex and Logan on the CASAA podcasts on SoundCloud every Monday and now live on YouTube and Facebook every Saturday at 3:30 PM.