As someone who has worked with high risk teens a fair bit (including my own) I would have to say that a fairly high rate of experimentation and a somewhat lower rate of lifetime addiction to nicotine TOTALLY justifies the harm reduction for older, former smokers..
I will also say, as a libertarian, I have to ask the question-- does this apply to teens, too? We accept that adults make high risk decisions for themselves all the time, and that adverse effects can happen, even within some of our TRADES, Do we nanny Alaskan fishermen when they ACCEPT the high death rate in that particular profession for the commensurate increase in pay?
Hell, I am being paid highly for what is a "high risk" job-- I am routinely exposed to germs and possible infection by working in a healthcare field where for some, it might be their fist exposure to a medical appointment of any sort? Did I get to "choose" working in places where statistically my probability of being exposed to crime, injury and even death was raised?
The government does NOT make those decisions for me. I made choices (knowingly) to enter homes where there were multiple guns and some high risk people. I enjoyed those jobs and I assumed the risk.
Having a risk taking personality is actually USEFUL to society: we need our military, our healthcare corps, our addiction corps etc. These are all higher risk occupations. A surprising number of heath care workers do stuff like rock climb, smoke, etc. When they tried to screen the variables it was "risk taking behavior." I have vertigo and I rock climb!
Furthermore, do we ACCEPT that some people will die sooner than others in our society? You sure bet we DO. We accept it each and every time each and every person makes a choice.
I don't care who vapes, l don't care WHOSE teens vape, and I would accept a fairly ungodly high number for those teen experimenters. Because, while I understand teens tend to be inherently more experimental and risk taking in general, I also know there are those teens, even MORE risk taking and that in a while (if everyone would shut up about it) "trying" a vape would become less normative, and "getting hooked on vaping" would come for that subset of teens whose brains happen to find nicotine not only pleasurable but useful.
I see no harm in this, and I see a lot more harm in tobacco. I also do not know what the true rate of vaping in teens is. It really,.... it doesn't matter to me.
If everyone would shut up about it, ask parents to do their job, and by golly, if the FDA wants to do anything, encourage states and locales who want to do it give consequences to the teen.
It's like that for every OTHER verboten thing, so just add vaping to the pile, SHUT UP about it and there you have it: teen vaping epidemic over, because if it swells to some unimaginable number, well, there can be consequences.
I also believe in parents rights to decide whether or not THEIR teen vaper is harmful or not to society, and to limit vaping how and where they see fit. Or, walk them and their teen down to Juvenile detention and turn them in.
This whole mess-- I don't CARE. It is SO much less harmful than the OTHER drugs and behaviors I have seen teens engage in that if a teen ever walked into my office with a "vaping problem" I would almost laugh in delight. Because it's not every other drug under the sun, self injury, a suicide attempt, hooking, rape, the list goes on.
I'm serious. I can't take teen vaping seriously and I can't believe that anyone would swallow that teen vaping is an epidemic.
And of WHAT? An epidemic of WHAT? An epidemic of nicotine? OMG, how lovely and heathy.
Risk takers CHOOSE to be risk takers. I am one of them, and as a risk taker I find the idea of government overregulation to be INSULTING to me and my fellow risk takers.
We know we may die younger, we accept that risk, and even the risk of being UNCOMFORTABLE at times, during drug detox, during a LOT of things. We assume that risk with our actions and teens should have no more or less "protections" other than making it legal for adults, and not legal for kids, and then the societies in America can each decide what to do about it.
But when you compare vaping to a teen who is sitting cutting herself because she ran out of her drug of choice after having unprotected sex with ten men to get it, and she calls me to pick her up from the motel, crying? And she is just, and good, and smart, and sweet, but she had a rough childhood and little help in making life choices? Vaping sort of becomes not a big freaking deal. Not even slightly,
So no, I am not concerned about ANY number the government cares to invent.. Intervention in vaping is not what teens, families, and vaping needs just let the places who want to make it illegal and give consequences do so, and carry the F ON.
Anna
