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A recent wave of "vaping-related" illnesses and a handful of deaths made the headlines and triggered alarms. While it is understandable that the public is afraid of young people who become seriously ill after being vapoted, government officials from the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the White House have amplified fears and undermined public health by failing to report facts and the dissemination of information "unnecessarily vague".
Hundreds of cases of serious respiratory illnesses were not caused by legal and regulated electronic cigarettes. New York University Public Health Professor Ray Niaura pointed out that these products "have been on the market for a long time", making it highly unlikely that traditional electronic cigarettes will suddenly cause lung problems.
And he's right. Health officials have now determined that most acute lung problems involve a contaminant, derived from vitamin E, found in tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. These liquids were purchased from unregulated street vendors.
The CDC officials were "unnecessarily vague" in describing the pulmonary incidents, as Professor Michael Siegel of Boston University said. Rather than blame the illicit THC oil, they continue to ambiguously describe these incidents as if they were caused by legal products, leading the public to believe that all electronic cigarettes and sprays are killers. But this opacity serves another purpose of the federal government: to kill the electronic cigarette industry.
In August, while acknowledging the first death from lung disease, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, said that "this tragic death in Illinois reinforces the serious risks associated with electronic cigarette products." Dr. Brian King of the CDC spoke about the same theme in a briefing. , noting, "There are a variety of harmful ingredients identified" in electronic cigarettes. "We have not associated any of these specific ingredients with current cases, but we do know that the electronic cigarette spray is not harmless." Weak and widespread warnings do not allow the public to make informed decisions. Instead, they leave the media free to fuel the fire using terms such as "epidemic" and "epidemic".
And groups of doctors and advocates such as the American Medical Association have only exacerbated the mystery surrounding these products. Asked in a recent interview with NPR about the link between lung disease and vaping, Dr. Patrice Harris, WADA President, said, "Unfortunately, we just do not know it. … That's why WADA has recommended everyone to avoid e-cigarettes at this time. "
Even adults who have already used vaping to stop smoking? Dr. Harris, it's a deadly advice. The CDC and physician groups should tell the public that nearly half a million Americans die every year from smoking. It's more than 1,300 … All. Single. Day. For more than 30 years.
Smokers burn tobacco to release and inhale nicotine containing toxic tar containing 7,000 chemicals. After 20 or 30 years, they are at high risk for heart disease, many cancers, asthma, emphysema and more. Vaping is a form of harm reduction, and is considered 95% safer than cigarettes. Not perfectly safe, but a big improvement over smoking. Not sharing this information – and letting a frenzy grow over vaping – is an escalation of evil.
Dr. Siegel correctly pointed out that the government should provide useful information to Americans. When he excoriated the CDC for its wrong language, Siegel stressed that "responsible public warnings must be as specific as possible about risk. Coli caused by a lot of contaminated lettuce, we do not tell the public that the disease is associated with the consumption of food or even that it is associated with the consumption of lettuce. And Siegel is right. Health officials have an obligation to provide clear and helpful guidance on how best to avoid or reduce risk. Americans deserve it, whether they smoke cigarettes, use electronic cigarettes or vapotate THC products.
The disadvantage of scary about vaping is huge. Millions of former smokers having adopted a much less harmful vaping method may assume that they have made a mistake and return to smoking. Millions more will never consider going to vaping. Cigarettes are the real killer. But the anti-nicotine extremists want to eliminate the main competitor of the cigarette, which makes it the real threat to public health.
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