Kids and Smoking

[LaceyUnderall]

A great opinion piece...

Sweet Lies About Kids and Smoking: The FDA's new ban on flavored cigarettes won't prevent teen smoking - Reason Magazine

Not about eSmoking but our favorite Dr.... Dr Siegel is quoted.

Worth a read if you are tired of the "it's for the children" argument.

 

[Symmetric]

I've said it a million times; Kids don't smoke because it tastes good, they do it because it's cool. If schools encouraged kids to smoke, the underage smoking rate would be .1% (there're always those kids that do as they're told)

 

[kristin]

Great article find, Lacey. Kind of kills the concept that e-cigs are also an segway to teenage smoking because of the flavors, too. Good to have those numbers available to counter the e-cigs are targeting kids argument!

 

[BigJimW]

No big surprise there. All the FDA is accomplishing is nothing. It is a known fact that, after a study was made earlier this year, Marlboro, Camels, and Newports are the cigarettes of choice by youth. Not the cherry, vanilla, toffee, or clove style. In fact, when I went to high school many moons ago, Newport was the "cool" cigarette to have. If you smoked a Newport, you were cool.

When I went to High School, believe it or not, the students actually had a smoking area.

So, I don't go for this sudden government crackdown on cigarettes. The government ITSELF is soley responsible for the current generation of smokers. They're going about it half-assed backwards. Ban all flavors except menthol (big amongst youth), ban electronic cigarettes, all to insure that the Marlboro Monopoly Act takes full effect.

Eventually people will see through this sharade for what it is indeed worth. An attempt to keep the money flow intact . This ban on fruit flavors is a big joke, and accomplishes nothing.

 

[Applejackson]

Actually, from the sound of things, it accomplishes one thing. It ensures the big 3's stranglehold on the cigarette market, not allowing any company to offer an alternate product.

 

[Vocalek]

There is a digg on the article:

Sweet Lies About Kids and Smoking: The FDA's new ban

 

[TropicalBob]

I do like that opinion piece, Lacey, but find it unfathomable that the author blames the FDA for the ban on flavored cigarettes. That prohibition was voted on by both house of Congress after much open argument. The FDA was given a mandate, not a choice in this matter. Congress also mandated that the FDA could not order menthol banned and could not order nicotine eliminated from tobacco smoke.

The FDA didn't make these rules. Why on earth would the author of a piece for Reason not know and acknowledge that fact?

I have always found the flavored-cigs-lure-kids argument ludicrous on its face. They do not. And I think any notion that they do can be refuted in less than a minute. The ban on flavors is simply another step step toward eventual tobacco prohibition.

 

[LaceyUnderall]

TB - While you are completely right that Congress made these rules, not the FDA, is it not possible that the pressure by the FDA and other mad anti-smoking groups through their propaganda made these rules to be so?

 

[circeseye]

funny thing is i couldn't stand the flavored cigs to me they sucked. i was a marlboro smoker all my life and flavors just wasnt good to me