Data from Minnesota suggests vaping laws and taxes are stalling adult smoking declines. CASAA in action with CAPHRA Voices4Vape video. Excellent, “must-read” article by Marc Gunther at The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Public health policies that are bad for public health. New US Surgeon General and more!
Scroll to the bottom of this post for a link to the audio/video versions of this post!
PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY // Exposing Anti-Vaping Bias
Clearway Minnesota VP unironically points out state’s mysteriously “stalled adult smoking rates” (the vape-phobic state already passed a 95% vape tax, plus many municipalities already banned flavors.) Her solution is to pass a statewide flavor ban & make vaping even more expensive for adults with higher taxes on vapor products.
https://twitter.com/BRAVEmediaMO/status/1235761254163255298
READ MORE: Governor’s revised budget a major win for health and kids
PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY // New US Surgeon General
If you’re wondering why veteran THR and vaping advocates are disgusted with the reinstatement of Vivek Murthy as Surgeon General, read this 2016 Clive Bates blog post about his last failed attempt at doing the job with reason, common sense and actual science.
As we welcome @vivek_murthy back to his role as @Surgeon_General, here's a reminder of just how wrong he has been about tobacco harm reduction.
On his vaping SG report: https://t.co/vsxggiLQD6
Also, questions he didn't answer: https://t.co/4T9RoxgT7a
Must do better this time.
— Clive Bates (@Clive_Bates) March 26, 2021
PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY // Bad For Public Health
Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot continues to push “quit or die” ideology on her constituents who smoke, first trying to eliminate any incentive for switching to vaping – incl. flavor & use bans & huge tax – then ignoring CDC vaccine guideline to prioritize people who smoke.
Almost every white privileged person, and some brown privileged people, I know, have jumped the line to get vaccinated early. Why are they making it harder for people with lung issues that are following the rules?
— KimberlyMosberg (@kbrownlaw) March 20, 2021
READ MORE: City snuffs out smokers, says they won’t have priority for vaccine
PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY // Bad For Public Health
US House members demand FDA circumvent Tobacco Act passed BY Congress. Irrational letter demands FDA bypass science, reject PMTAs based solely on “flavor” & to reject JUUL products outright, even though JUUL only sells “adult” flavors.
These radical members of Congress just asked @FDATobacco not to do exactly what Congress explicitly required it TO do. Such a change in law, even if enacted by Congress, would cause more smokers to die and would create a blackmarket for ecigs.
https://t.co/DJhFp1nTk9— Jeff Stier (@JeffaStier) March 24, 2021
READ MORE: Democrats urge FDA to clear market of all flavored e-cigarettes
PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY // Confusing the Public
Michigan lawmakers are banning Vitamin E acetate (VEA) in vapor products, despite the fact that VEA was found mainly in unregulated products that are already illegal to sell. This law is about as logical as banning talcum powder in cocaine. They also misleadingly include nicotine products that never used VEA. Not only would the oil-like substance damage nicotine vaping devices, the VEA in illicit THC products was used to mislead customers that the THC oil was undiluted, which is a deception that is completely unnecessary for legal nicotine vapor products.
It's really not a problem for anyone, it's just a waste of time and tax dollars. As Vit E Acetate was only used to cut black market THC carts, no legal products, THC or otherwise are affected. The black market isn't likely to comply with the law for obvious reasons 🙂
— The Pirate (@SeismicPirate) March 24, 2021
Nah, that's the Michigan governor that wants to kill the industry. This is just a feel good bill to ban the sale of cartridges with vitamin E acetate, which has only ever been found in illicit THC cartridges.
— Gregory Conley (@GregTHR) March 25, 2021
READ MORE: Michigan House committee revives bill to prohibit sale of vaping
IN THE NEWS // Exposing Anti-Vaping Bias
The most significant takeaway (for THR advocates) of this article is that chart (based on ALA/CDC data) showing cessation was clearly stalled until vaping gained popularity in 2009, but rather than given credit, is instead blamed for “reversing gains.”
READ MORE: How the Big Tobacco Giants Can Survive the Last Smoker
COMMENTARY // Marc Gunther, The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Excellent, “must-read” article by Marc Gunther on the backwards, harmful, unscientific and extremely well-funded war on tobacco harm reduction and adult #vaping!
Check out our highlights below, then go read the full article!
Bloomberg Philanthropies used its money and influence to curb vaping, to be sure. But others who have worked for decades to reduce deaths from smoking say the ongoing campaign against e-cigarettes is misguided, built on unsound science and likely to do more harm than good.”
“While e-cigarettes & combustible tobacco both contain nicotine…e-cigarettes are much less dangerous…Vaping appeals to smokers who want to quit…Like kids, adult vapers prefer flavors…removing flavored e-cigarettes…deprives adult smokers of a popular safer alternative.”
“By contrast, the British government actively promotes vaping as an alternative to smoking while discouraging use by young people. This strategy seems to be working: Use of e-cigarettes is largely confined to current and former smokers.”
“Simple in theory but controversial in practice, harm reduction aims to limit the dangers of risky behavior….Harm reduction can be useful when the evidence suggests, as it often does, that abstinence-only strategies like “just say no” don’t work.”
“Tobacco-Free Kids…has about 140 staff members and a budget of $34 million…Truth Initiative spends about $100 million a year…Bloomberg…has committed nearly $1 billion…The lung and heart associations and the cancer society all get grants from Bloomberg….”
“Bloomberg: “Just think if your kid was doing this and winds up with an IQ 10 or 15 points lower than he or she would have had for the rest of her life.”
This is, to be kind, a stretch. No reputable scientist believes that e-cigarettes cause a long-term drop in IQ.”
“That is a good illustration of the danger of Bloomberg and his money,” says Clive Bates…David Abrams, former Truth Initiative scientist…says: “It’s never justified to distort or misinform the public, even in the service of trying to scare kids.”
“FDA-approved nicotine-replacement therapies, after all, deliver nicotine…to smokers who want to quit….Michael Russell, a British scientist and a pioneer of smoking-cessation treatments, famously said: “People smoke for nicotine, but they die from the tar.”
“The two sides can’t even agree about whether the use…by kids should be called an epidemic. A 2020 survey found that about 1 in 5 high-school students reported vaping in the previous month, but only about 1 in 15 frequently used e-cigarettes…Is that an epidemic?”
“With a presence in every congressional district, the Cancer Society can “mobilize our grassroots volunteers and encourage them to contact their elected officials,” [Cathy Calloway, director of state and local campaigns at the Cancer Action Network] says.”
~ Marc Gunther, The Chronicle of Philanthropy
READ MORE: Bloomberg’s Millions Funded an Effective Campaign Against Vaping. Could It Do More Harm Than Good? (Registration is FREE!)
CASAA IN ACTION // CAPHRA Voices4Vape Webinar
Watch The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (
CASAA MEDIA // Podcast
Catch up on past tobacco harm reduction news with Alex and Logan on the CASAA podcasts on SoundCloud and now on YouTube. Watch for new episodes every Monday!
SoundCloud:
YouTube:
Facebook Live Link:
https://www.facebook.com/CASAAmedia/videos/1094235547721535/