HEADS UP - NEWS - UPDATES! (When we know, you'll know!)

[kristin]

ELK GROVE, CALIFORNIA: (CALL TO ACTION!) City Council is considering an ordinance that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products. A remote public hearing is on 1/13 @ 6 PM! Talking points provided to help you prepare your comments!

Stop a Flavor Ban - Elk Grove, CA - CASAA

 

[MLEJ]

including a ban on the sale of all nicotine products in pharmacies

That bit caught my attention because "nicotine product in pharmacies" includes patches, lozenges, etc.
The article shows how crazy these legislators are:
"a ban on the sale of all nicotine products in pharmacies" means no smoking cessation products except prescription ones.
"it is hypocritical for pharmacies on the one hand to be places where health aids, drugs and vaccines are available, while the nicotine-based e-cigarettes and vaping materials are in the same place" - Has anyone ever seen any vaping products besides JUUL in a pharmacy? Has anyone NOT seen cigarettes sold in a pharmacy? CVS doesn't; others do.
“In some of the pharmacies, they will walk through areas where there are cigarettes and other products that are not safe for their health and well-being,” - Cigarettes & JUUL pods are ALWAYS behind the check-out counter, not where customers walk. Candy, junk foods, and soda, OTC drugs, and vibrators, on the other hand...
"Another bill would require Connecticut buyers of online nicotine-delivery products to produce proof of their age before transactions can be completed" - Already a federal law.
“We think we are at a point, with all due respect to the business of vaping, we want to make sure that young people do not follow a path that leads to addiction,” - You have no respect for the business of vaping. Those same 'young people' can drive, vote, buy guns, serve in the military, buy marijuana... and become addicted to caffeine. And already have to prove they're 21+ to buy nicotine products (but not caffeine or sugar or etc.). These proposals, except for the redundant proof of age, affect people of any age.
"main goal this year is to eliminate all flavored tobacco products, including cigarettes" - Flavored cigarettes are already banned by federal law and vape products don't contain tobacco.
“We’ve got to protect kids from these flavors” - So require proof of age (that's already required); banning them affects everyone. “We really want all flavors off the market" - So it's really nothing to do with protecting kids. "You just have to do it that way" - No, you don't. You could think it through instead.
"Smoking overall is going down" - And vaping is one of he reasons why, you *****!

i checked: CT has an excise tax on vape products on top of the sales tax. All states are hurting for money right now. Further restrictions on vaping is stupidity on top of stupidity.

i know: Ranting to the choir. This stupidity & hypocrisy just ticks me off. That the general public accepts it uncritically and allows legislators to get away with it ticks me off more. Hadda get it out.

 

[MLEJ]

Youth vaping threatens to wipe out gains in cigarette use, health experts warn

This one's as bad or worse...
"E-cigarette use among high school seniors grew from 39% to 47% between 2016 and 2000." - Citing 20 year old data!?! "Youth cigarette use has been steadily falling since peaking at 36.5% in 1997" - Define 'youth' and make a connection between decreased cigarette use & increased e-cigarette use, genius.
"Any amount of nicotine – even the amount in e-cigarettes – is unhealthy" - No.
"Early nicotine use also has been linked to future addiction to other drugs" - Ever heard of "addictive personality?" It's a thing. Ever heard "correlation is not causation?" It's a thing.
"Nicotine isn't the only ingredient in e-cigarettes that is harmful either. Vitamin E acetate, used in some vaping products, has been linked to lung injury" - Aaand the author has lost all semblance of credibility. But 99% of the people reading her article won't know that. And she knows THAT.

 

[kristin]

This one's as bad or worse...
"E-cigarette use among high school seniors grew from 39% to 47% between 2016 and 2000." - Citing 20 year old data!?! "Youth cigarette use has been steadily falling since peaking at 36.5% in 1997" - Define 'youth' and make a connection between decreased cigarette use & increased e-cigarette use, genius.
"Any amount of nicotine – even the amount in e-cigarettes – is unhealthy" - No.
"Early nicotine use also has been linked to future addiction to other drugs" - Ever heard of "addictive personality?" It's a thing. Ever heard "correlation is not causation?" It's a thing.
"Nicotine isn't the only ingredient in e-cigarettes that is harmful either. Vitamin E acetate, used in some vaping products, has been linked to lung injury" - Aaand the author has lost all semblance of credibility. But 99% of the people reading her article won't know that. And she knows THAT.

That must be a typo. They meant 2016 - 2020. And yeah, the reporter is an idiot for confusing THC vapes with vitamin E acetate with nicotine vapor products (likely intentional, though.)

Also, I haven't read the proposed bills, but it likely exempts NRT products for sale in pharmacies.

 

[kristin]

AROUND THE WORLD: (VIETNAM) In a country where 18.2 - 22.5% of adults smoke, they propose banning the 95% safer products. The government owns 55% of the cigarette market. Just as in the US, tobacco revenue appears to be more important than public health.

Vietnam Plans to Ban Sales of Vaping Products - Vaping360

 

[kristin]

HARM REDUCTION FAIL: (MASSACHUSETTS) State's flavor ban not only FAILS to reduce smoking (many just switched to non-menthol,) but state loses $62 million in tax revenue. Vapers also cross the borders to buy or went back to smoking.

Bans. Don't. Work.

New Report Confirms Bay State Smoking Ban Pays Off Big For New Hampshire

 

[kristin]

PUBLIC HEALTH: Record drop in cancer largely attributed to less smoking, which correlates w/increased #vaping. What happens when adults return to smoking because they can't order online or get the flavors or nicotine strengths they need? #VapingSavesLives

US cancer rates drop record amount, impact of COVID uncertain

 

[MLEJ]

Seen this one?:
CBP, FDA Seize Counterfeit, Unauthorized E-Cigarettes
"U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport working in conjunction with agents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that they have seized 33,681 units of e-cigarettes..."

'“The FDA continues to prioritize enforcement against e-cigarette products, specifically those most appealing and accessible to youth,” said Mitch Zeller, J.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.'
About 450 deaths annually from Tylenol/Acetaminophen (Is Tylenol 'By Far the Most Dangerous Drug Ever Made?' - just 1 example), hundreds of suicides (+ many more attempted) from Chantix (Anti-Smoking Drug Chantix Linked To Over 500 Suicides: Should It Retain Its FDA Approval?), exactly 0 deaths from e-cigarettes, yet the FDA prioritizes e-cigarettes! No e-cigarette products are accessible legally to minors; "youth" & "minors" aren't synonyms. AARGH!

No more ranting -- i just despise the dishonesty.

 

[kristin]

HEADS UP-NEWS-UPDATES: Call to Action for Elk Grove, California. More vaping junk science. Heads up Indiana and Connecticut. Harm reduction fails in Massachusetts and Vietnam. Are cancer rates are down because of vaping? CASAA in the News.

Call to Action, Vaping Junk Science, Heads Up and More!

 

[kristin]

Seen this one?:
CBP, FDA Seize Counterfeit, Unauthorized E-Cigarettes
"U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport working in conjunction with agents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that they have seized 33,681 units of e-cigarettes..."

'“The FDA continues to prioritize enforcement against e-cigarette products, specifically those most appealing and accessible to youth,” said Mitch Zeller, J.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.'
About 450 deaths annually from Tylenol/Acetaminophen (Is Tylenol 'By Far the Most Dangerous Drug Ever Made?' - just 1 example), hundreds of suicides (+ many more attempted) from Chantix (Anti-Smoking Drug Chantix Linked To Over 500 Suicides: Should It Retain Its FDA Approval?), exactly 0 deaths from e-cigarettes, yet the FDA prioritizes e-cigarettes! No e-cigarette products are accessible legally to minors; "youth" & "minors" aren't synonyms. AARGH!

No more ranting -- i just despise the dishonesty.

No, I hadn't seen that one. Thanks for the tip!

 

[somdcomputerguy]

And yeah, the reporter is an idiot for confusing THC vapes with vitamin E acetate with nicotine vapor products (likely intentional, though.)

While it might be an intentional mislead, I would lean more toward it being an uneducated mistake. I wholly agree on the reporter being an idiot for not investigating him/herself, and not really doing his or her job but just 'saying what's been said to him/her'.

 

[kristin]

PHOENIX, ARIZONA: (HEADS UP!) City considering a FLAVOR BAN & they haven't heard from CONSUMERS as to why this is BAD FOR PUBLIC HEALTH! Let @CityofPhoenixAZ know why opposition isn't "just businesses worried about lost profits." #VapingSavesLives

Phoenix Weighs Enforcement, State Legislation In Flavored Tobacco Ban Debate

 

[kristin]

While it might be an intentional mislead, I would lean more toward it being an uneducated mistake. I wholly agree on the reporter being an idiot for not investigating him/herself, and not really doing his or her job but just 'saying what's been said to him/her'.

Possibly, but if that's what was said to her, then someone intentionally misled her. Either way, conflating vitamin E acetate with nicotine vaping, when it's so easy to find the facts, is likely intentional.

 

[kristin]

MISSISSIPPI: (HEADS UP!) SB 2182 not only makes harm reduction products more expensive with a 15% wholesale tax, but also redefines "tobacco product" to include #vaping products that don't contain tobacco OR nicotine! (Bill link in article, see line 167.)

Bill of the Day: Vaping could receive increased tobacco tax

 

[kristin]

COMMENTARY: (Lindsey Stroud, Inside Sources)

"New Year’s resolutions shouldn’t be broken because of government regulations. Former smokers should not be fearful of a possible return to cigarettes because policymakers are preventing access to tobacco harm reduction products.."

New Year, New Regulations, and Big Government’s Attempts to Block Tobacco Harm Reduction – InsideSources

 

[MLEJ]

Possibly, but if that's what was said to her, then someone intentionally misled her. Either way, conflating vitamin E acetate with nicotine vaping, when it's so easy to find the facts, is likely intentional.

Whether ignorance or disingenuousness, either is egregious from a published 'journalist.'

 

[kristin]

MARYLAND: (CALL TO ACTION) SB 273, a flavor ban, online sales ban & more--what local vaping advocates are calling a "nuclear option"--is scheduled for a tightly controlled "public" hearing Jan. 28th @ 1PM. Take action and contact your lawmakers NOW!

Maryland - Stop a Flavor Ban!

 

[kristin]

An expert on tobacco dependence and treatment from the New York University’s (NYU) School of Global Public Health has voiced concern over “zombie theories” which plague tobacco harm reduction (THR) research.
NYU expert: Tobacco harm reduction research plagued by ‘zombie’ theories

 

[MLEJ]

An expert on tobacco dependence and treatment from the New York University’s (NYU) School of Global Public Health has voiced concern over “zombie theories” which plague tobacco harm reduction (THR) research.
NYU expert: Tobacco harm reduction research plagued by ‘zombie’ theories

"...more than a dozen other studies show that switching to vape has dramatic benefits seen in biomarker data and health outcome data. Niaura said there is a lack of such studies because scientists have not set the agenda..."
AT LAST, a scientist said it out loud!

 

[kristin]

KANSAS: (CALL TO ACTION) HB 2061 would ban flavors and prohibit public vaping--even in private businesses that currently allow people to vape! Now is the time for Kansas advocates to make contact with lawmakers and urge them to oppose HB 2061!
Kansas - Stop a Flavor Ban (HB 2061)