Just seen on Atlanta Fox local news

[RedForeman]

Yep, another investigative report. Although this one was fairly neutral considering others I've seen. Looks like the channel 5 i-Team got wind of an e-cig stand in what looks like Lenox Mall, a landmark just north of downtown. It does not look like canned network content, although they did highlight the Heigl appearance on Letterman.

They had a doctor stop short of saying they were less dangerous, but he didn't immediately start railing on it either. They covered the selling to kids angle too, but couldn't find any evidence of that. This investigative team is good about follow ups so there will probably be some more installments.

Click for the news report.

 

[MrsJaaxx]

I just saw that too-- kudos to you for finding a link! I've been trying to for the past 15 minutes! LOL It wasn't horrible, but they did continuously mention "kids." Like saying that the kids know all about these and the kids call it vaping. Umm, don't we all call it vaping? Definitely not a positive piece but could be much worse. And could cause a smoker to check out e-cigs.

 

[RedForeman]

Seems it was hot off the press. It didn't show on my first look - the post time was only minutes after it broadcast. They also emphasized this is a new way of smoking, and really failing to differentiate from analogs. Almost a "look what those filthy smokers are getting away with" kind of spin on the topic.

 

[Matodd]

The news is acting like vaping is mainstream and I don't think that it is yet. At least here in WV I didn't even learn about them until my husband heard about them on Rush Limbaugh. I only found the Katherine Hiegl interview after I learned about ecigs. Am I just to backwoods or what? I've only found three other people here in the town where I live that know about and use ecigs. I've only found one store that carries ecigs, and its a tobacco shop not a mall kiosk.

 

[Crumpet]

You know, I'm all about not letting kids do everything that adults do but I'm about sick and tired of the 'for the chiiiiiildren' rhetoric that constantly gets spouted off. Adults shouldn't have to be limited to activities that are appropriate for 12 yr olds and whether or not something is good for kids should NOT be a factor in deciding what adults should have access to. Frankly, making everything so 'adult' only makes kids and teens more curious and eager to try it, a la the appeal of forbidden fruit. Not to mention that vaping is about the very least dangerous of all 'adult' activities.

 

[hairball]

You know, I'm all about not letting kids do everything that adults do but I'm about sick and tired of the 'for the chiiiiiildren' rhetoric that constantly gets spouted off. Adults shouldn't have to be limited to activities that are appropriate for 12 yr olds and whether or not something is good for kids should NOT be a factor in deciding what adults should have access to. Frankly, making everything so 'adult' only makes kids and teens more curious and eager to try it, a la the appeal of forbidden fruit. Not to mention that vaping is about the very least dangerous of all 'adult' activities.

I second that. The media is soooooooo worried about kids vaping. What about the kids that are buying illegal drugs on every corner? Media doesn't seem too worried about that. What about kids shooting other kids? Media doesn't seemed too worried about that either. God forbid if an ecig lands in their hands. The world will just shatter! Don't get me wrong, I don't want anyone under 18 using these.

 

[RedForeman]

Kids are more likely to be harmed by choking on the toy in a happy meal or walking in front of a car while texting. It's just sensational and ultimately a red herring. Maybe Michael Moore or Al Gore will make a movie.

 

[Willriker]

I thought the article was fair. They did make it a point to emphasize that this particular retailer would not sell to anyone onder 18. In addition, they could not find any retailer that would sell to anyone under 18. And went even further to say that the suppliers are treating this as if it was illegal to sell it to people under 18 (despite not knowing if it actually is or not).

I thought this was pretty darn fair. Its probably one of the first fair and balanced peices of reporting i have ever seen on fox.

 

[jmanning]

Even if some were marketing ecigs to minors, which I have certainly not seen, that is no reason to ban ecigs. What happens if a retailer is caught selling cigarettes to minors? They get shut down, but you don't see them banning cigarettes because of this.

 

[the_larch]

Although this was more fair of a report than others I have seen, I took serious issue when they stated that kids refer to it as vaping... Made it sound like PVs are already being embraced by the under 18 crowd which seems rather unfair

 

[VictoryNotVengence]

why did they show kits that include fake tatooes? Why would a manufacture produce that kit?

 

[RedForeman]

For anyone following this, they have produced another clip for the evening news. It's on the same page I originally posted.

They replayed the interview with the doctor from the GSU institute of public health, who agreed vaping is probably less harmful than smoking. Not shown (yet?) on the website clip is that they had planned on a debate format including a spokesman from an e-cig company and a health professional from Emory. Apparently the e-cig guy bailed, claiming he didn't think he'd get a fair shake in the interview. So the anchor interviewed the Emory representative anyway. She stammered and stuttered through the usual regulation speak and didn't forget to throw out the anti-freeze story. I do have to hand it to Dana Fowle, the anchor doing the story - she really pressed these folks to explain why such a concern over a product so apparently less toxic than tobacco smoking. She really tried to get both sides of the story.

I still have an issue with the smoking references. Phrases like "light up anywhere" and "smoking where you can't smoke." It just suggests that since it's so much like smoking there must be something really bad about it and we just don't have proof yet. On the other hand, I get that's probably what non-smokers think when they see it. At the end of the feature Dana demonstrated an e-cig - presumably from the mall kiosk - and passed it around to the other anchors (also not shown in the web clip). Amanda Davis passed it right on not wanting to really touch it. Russ Spencer tried it out and remarked there wasn't much taste to it.

It will be interesting to see if there's more follow ups.