The American Lung Association is still lying -- now making it about nicotine pouches (which very few youth use.)
“If they're cheaper for kids to buy, then that's where they'll gravitate towards. So make sure that the price is high enough to dissuade them from using them.”
FACT: Most adults who smoke are in households that make less than $49k a year. So making sure prices are high enough to dissuade youth will also dissuade adults from switching to these far safer products.
"Tobacco companies tend to market those products as a 'safer alternative'. We know that is not necessarily true."
FACT: FDA rules prohibit the products as being marketed as a "safer alternative" without authorization. The only US tobacco company marketing smoke-free products as lower risk is Swedish snus, because it has FDA authorization to do so. That these products -- especially nicotine pouches -- are a "safer alternative" to deadly cigarettes is indisputable.
“They are not FDA-approved as a cessation device. So they should not be able to be marketed or promoted as that.”
FACT: No US tobacco company has been marketing #vaping products, snus or nicotine pouches as a cessation product.
“They can have a lot of the same negative health effects of using nicotine in adolescence like the disruption of the formation of brain circuits that control attention learning."
FACT: This has only been studied in animals.
Tobacco Control has long pointed out that most adults who smoke began as adolescents, yet those millions of adults don't have "disrupted brains." Additionally, studies on humans have been showing that nicotine shows promise as a therapy and/or prevention for people with certain brain conditions.
"Smokeless products are “fairly new,” and it would take time for people to realize how harmful these new products can be."
FACT: There's several decades of research on smoke-free products that show they aren't anywhere near as risky as smoking. Specifically, nicotine pouches are nearly identical to FDA-approved products. They're just in a pouch form rather than gums or lozenges.
“They might use e-cigarettes to cope with mental health issues. But then we know that vaping and nicotine can cause more mental health issues."
FACT: No, we don't know that. We know there's a link between mental health issues and drug use -- including nicotine -- but there's nothing proving that nicotine causes more mental health issues.
“Tobacco and vaping is a real issue and I think it's only gotten worse over the past few years."
FACT: Youth tobacco use is at a historical low and the youth vaping fad has decline to pre-2014 levels.
The nicotine pouch is an oral pouch containing nicotine powder instead of tobacco leaf. Pouches are available in flavors.
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