FDA CDC again grossly misrepresents NYTS e-cig youth usage data to deceive, scare and lobby for FDA deeming reg

[Bill Godshall]

dragonpuff inquired

Is there any way to get that out in the open?

I sent the info to hundreds of public health experts, researchers, news media and others.

Unfortunately, the mainstream news media don't give a damn, and instead they just become defensive whenever their news headlines and articles are proven false.

Hopefully, some reporters and news outlets that don't like Obama, Big Government or the nanny state may pick up on this. Unfortunately, its Labor Day weekend and most everyone has already left for vacation until Tuesday (when they'll receive 200 new press releases vying for their attention).

 

[dragonpuff]

dragonpuff inquired



I sent the info to hundreds of public health experts, researchers, news media and others.

Unfortunately, the mainstream news media don't give a damn, and instead they just become defensive whenever their news headlines and articles are proven false.

Hopefully, some reporters and news outlets that don't like Obama, Big Government or the nanny state may pick up on this. Unfortunately, its Labor Day weekend and most everyone has already left for vacation until Tuesday (when they'll receive 200 new press releases vying for their attention).

Thank you so much for your efforts Bill.

This, I think, is the biggest problem with media nowadays - they care a lot more about their business than they do about reporting actual news.

Forum members were talking about this awhile back. We thought maybe it would be a really interesting special edition story if someone were to take us up on it. It's got all the trappings of a good hour long news special: government corruption, trampling on small business, corporate greed leading to physical harm. A good report on how misguided public policy helps the few and hurts the majority. They could have emotional interviews with individual vapers, visits to local small-town businesses, images of huge buildings in D.C. with statements like "Mitch Zeller refused to be interviewed for this report." Someone like John Stossel would have a field day with a story like this. Any news organization that would take this on would get tons of viewers.

But therein lies the problem - they're all too concerned about their reputations to do an honest news story. I can't help but wonder if their main concern is not their reputations per se, but with the reputations of their sponsors. Scratch the surface of this issue and big pharma corruption is all over it. Maybe that's what they're really worried about...

 

[csardaz]

I sent CDC an e-mail asking where to get the 2013 data.

got a reply :

Thank you for contacting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health. The 2013 NYTS public access datasets and information will be available on the Smoking & tobacco Use Web site on September 11. The NYTS landing page is: CDC - National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) - Smoking & Tobacco Use.

 

[UncloudedThinking]

I am outraged by this and am surprised more vapers aren't talking about it. The 'gateway' is the main argument they are using to push through regs before emerging science makes it clear they are not being logical.

I feel that the public would be pretty ....../ feel lied to if they knew all of the details.

 

[dragonpuff]

I am outraged by this and am surprised more vapers aren't talking about it. The 'gateway' is the main argument they are using to push through regs before emerging science makes it clear they are not being logical.

I feel that the public would be pretty ....../ feel lied to if they knew all of the details.

I'm certain they would, that's why so much of this information is kept out of the public eye. It's so strange to read news stories and then compare them to the scientific studies they're allegedly based on, it's like night and day. Most of the information on this issue that is beneficial to us but works against major corporations, etc. is deliberately kept out of the media. The powers that be know that if the majority of people knew what we here know, there would be an outrage.

 

[UncloudedThinking]

Well, it's Sept 12 and they have yet to post the data.

 

[DrMA]

Well, it's Sept 12 and they have yet to post the data.

They said Sep 11, but did not specify the year.

 

[Uma]

My dopey worth?
Between the studies that show or prove that nicotine outside of a cigarette is no more addicting than coffee... and the fact that cigarette sales are down for the first time in decades, and the fact that teenage smoking is down for the first time in history, ... tell me again what the problem with Flavors is again.

Maybe we can fight what ifs with reality what ifs.
What if they vape instead of smoke. What if they use zero nicotine. What if they want to lower their nicotine mg strength and go zero nicotine? What if they are slowing down on their smokes? Who is affected by the lack of tobacco sales if they are vaping instead of smoking? The list goes on.

 

[Nate760]

My dopey worth?
Between the studies that show or prove that nicotine outside of a cigarette is no more addicting than coffee... and the fact that cigarette sales are down for the first time in decades, and the fact that teenage smoking is down for the first time in history, ... tell me again what the problem with Flavors is again.

There isn't any actual problem, it's just a convenient means by which the ANTZ can formulate a "drug peddlers are trying to lure your children" narrative.

 

[Bill Godshall]

csardaz wrote:

got a reply :

Thank you for contacting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health. The 2013 NYTS public access datasets and information will be available on the Smoking & Tobacco Use Web site on September 11. The NYTS landing page is: CDC - National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) - Smoking & Tobacco Use.

The 2013 NYTS data sets still haven't been posted at
CDC - National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) - Smoking & Tobacco Use

Looks like the CDC study authors have lied yet again.

 

[DrMA]

My guess is that it takes time to doctor such a large dataset in ways that are not immediately obvious... In particular, recoding some key "Probably Not" answers into "Definitely Yes" can be tricky within a database environment.

 

[Nate760]

My guess is that it takes time to doctor such a large dataset in ways that are not immediately obvious... In particular, recoding some key "Probably Not" answers into "Definitely Yes" can be tricky within a database environment.

The entire ANTZ narrative relies on taking data that are already unreliable (I remember taking these drug/alcohol/smoking/sex surveys in high school; we gave no consideration to answering the questions honestly, we were just out to entertain ourselves; when I was in 9th grade, I told the survey I went to Tijuana at least three times a week to get drunk and have sex with prostitutes), and creatively contorting the results beyond all recognition until they're left with something that says what they want it to say. It is literally the opposite of science.

 

[csardaz]

csardaz wrote:

got a reply :

Thank you for contacting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health. The 2013 NYTS public access datasets and information will be available on the Smoking & Tobacco Use Web site on September 11. The NYTS landing page is: CDC - National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) - Smoking & Tobacco Use.

The 2013 NYTS data sets still haven't been posted at
CDC - National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) - Smoking & Tobacco Use

Looks like the CDC study authors have lied yet again.

NCCD/OSH/OSH Inquiries (CDC) | nccdoshinquiries@cdc.gov
Today, Wednesday, Sep 17 09:40 AM
RE: RE: 2013 NYTS dataset?

Hi, Lawrence,

First, we have to apologize. The data released on September 11 was BRFSS and not NYTS. This was just plain human error of thinking of one survey and pulling out info about another when a reply was sent to you. We just checked with the NYTS team lead, and there’s no date yet for 2013 NYTS. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey includes some tobacco use questions, and the 2013 datasets are available for that survey (CDC - YRBSS - Data Files & Methods - Adolescent and School Health).


Hi;
Regarding : " The 2013 NYTS public access datasets and information will be available on the Smoking & Tobacco Use Web site on September 11. "


It still isn't available - any update?

Thanks

 

[csardaz]

My guess is that it takes time to doctor such a large dataset in ways that are not immediately obvious... In particular, recoding some key "Probably Not" answers into "Definitely Yes" can be tricky within a database environment.

The 2011 and 2012 datasets looked good. Doctoring like "Probably Won't = Intend" was done on some extract or during extraction for that study. They do make a bunch of recode fields - usually to distinguish between "should have answered but didn't" and "should have left it blank". For instance there is a section regarding past 30 days use - if the kid has already stated he didn't smoke in the last 30 days then a blank answer is expected but if he said he had smoked in the last 30 days but didn't answer 'how did you get it" then a blank is unexpected.

Its not really a database - its all one large table basically. You need lots of lookups/translations tho - for instance a 10 in the "age" field means they checked the 10th box "J. 18 years old". Ideally there would be a bunch of lookup tables that define "1 = Yes, 2 = No" and "1=defno, 2=probno, 3=probyes, 4=defyes" Thats all in a "codebook" pdf file.

That study definitely had this data back in July tho It may have not had the RECODE fields populated then. Aside from adding and populating those, making different file formats (?Save As?) and maybe making the codebook presentable I don't see what else would be needed before a public release.

 

[Painter_]

I have read the study (thank you Bill!) and would like to point out some glaring flaws/misrepresentations contained within it:

Included in their findings, of middle and high schoolers who never smoked, 0.9% have ever tried an e-cigarette, and 0.3% have used one in the last 30 days. The numbers in this context make sense - they are very low, which we expect.

They took these figures from their sample (which was about 43,000 students) and extrapolated to the whole population - what they are calling a "weighted population estimate" - to get the 263,000 shock value number. In other words, they didn't feel like the percentages were quite misleading enough, so they used the percentage to come up with a whole number that looks more scary. It is unclear which percentage they used to come up with this number - they simply don't say how they computed it.

Also, they included 12th graders in the survey, which means they undoubtedly counted a number of 18 year olds. However, they only had kids list their grade level, not their age, which means we will never know how many kids of legal age ended up in this study. To make matters worse, for their final analysis they lumped all high schoolers together, so we can't even estimate how many 12th graders there were!

Other issues:

- They defined "current use" as use any time within the last thirty days, but fail to distinguish between habitual (i.e. daily) use, and those who simply happened to try the product in the last month. This definition intentionally misleads the public into believing that all "current users" are addicted.

- As I stated earlier, they associate intent to smoke with past e-cig use, but fail to account for whether that intent was present before e-cig use was initiated. In other words, they are attempting to make it look like e-cig use increases the likelihood of future smoking, when in reality that likelihood probably existed before (and likely predisposed the individual to try e-cigs to begin with).

- They disclose no conflicts of interest, when it is clear that there are some to disclose.



In summary, the latest CDC survey is another disturbing, mashed up cluster of misinformation, carefully crafted and designed to deceive and manipulate the unsuspecting masses. To those who have yet to read this glorified perversion of science as we know it, enjoy!

I hope you do not mind, I stole your analysis and re-posted it on the dangers of e-cigs group.

https://www.facebook. com/pages/Danger-of-E-Cigs/647788451949771