I am extremely disappointed in the FDA’s milqutoast response. Teenage vaping is an epidemic. It’s an incredible problem at the school where I teach. The USB-A sized vape units just litter the bathrooms and parking lots.
The media has also failed it’s obligations. Most news articles are practically advertisements for e-cigarettes, promoting them as smoking cessation tools and practically harmless compared to other tobacco products. They are not FDA approved and the evidence for their efficacy and safety is sketchy at best.
I know. I've been sounding the alarm on this for years, to no avail. People do not understand what is happening amongst teenagers with vaping.
There are millions more people addicted to nicotine that never would have been absent vaping. We were winning the war, thanks to sound policy moves. E-cigarettes might be an okay solution for helping smokers to quit smoking. But the easy availability and marketing has led to an absolute and total epidemic, and no one seems to care.
People get incredibly defensive about this. I've been met with outright denial that it was even a possibility. Go back through my commenting history even on HN, and you'll see people telling me kids will never start vaping because "well, it's not cool." You get told well, look at all these people that quit smoking. That's great! But I don't see why it was necessary to trade smoking cessation among older cohorts for vaping addiction in teenagers. We have a massive public policy failure on our hands, and it's not getting better.
The only thing we can say is well, at least the public health crisis won't be as bad as what we had with cigarettes. Okay. But we didn't have to have one at all. E-cig companies (many of which are actually owned by the old tobacco giants) have successfully ensnared a whole new generation of addicts.
You are partially responsible for this. Why is it the first response to blame everyone else but it is never the fault of those who are on the front lines (teachers, parents, people in the community)? I am stick and tired of the parents who can't F' talk to their kids ("the government needs to do more!"), school administrators who are not doing their job (last time I checked, having any tobacco / nicotine products on school grounds is quite illegal for both students and faculty : with fines and possible jail time) and the fact that there are much more dire issues in many communities that need to be addressed (maybe the opioid and Heroin epidemic?). The fact that there are much more harmful things that teens can get a hold of should be a priority over this FUD.
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The media has also failed it’s obligations. Most news articles are practically advertisements for e-cigarettes, promoting them as smoking cessation tools and practically harmless compared to other tobacco products. They are not FDA approved and the evidence for their efficacy and safety is sketchy at best.
The media has no obligation to you or me to do anything. E-cigarettes have helped quite a few people I know stop smoking (to the point that they don't even vape anymore). Running factually inaccurate ads like this [1] NSFW is much more harmful than any AD sponsored by big tobacco / e-cigarette companies. Lying to teens is not going to have the desired effect that you are looking for and it's going to make them want to do the opposite. As for the health effects, it is going to be just like anything else that can have undesired / dangerous substances if it comes from a questionable source. I'm sure that e-cigarettes are much better than inhaling traditional combustible cigarettes (I'm not denying that there could be health issues if use continued over X time).
[+] [-] Pulcinella|7 years ago|reply
The media has also failed it’s obligations. Most news articles are practically advertisements for e-cigarettes, promoting them as smoking cessation tools and practically harmless compared to other tobacco products. They are not FDA approved and the evidence for their efficacy and safety is sketchy at best.
[+] [-] Amezarak|7 years ago|reply
There are millions more people addicted to nicotine that never would have been absent vaping. We were winning the war, thanks to sound policy moves. E-cigarettes might be an okay solution for helping smokers to quit smoking. But the easy availability and marketing has led to an absolute and total epidemic, and no one seems to care.
People get incredibly defensive about this. I've been met with outright denial that it was even a possibility. Go back through my commenting history even on HN, and you'll see people telling me kids will never start vaping because "well, it's not cool." You get told well, look at all these people that quit smoking. That's great! But I don't see why it was necessary to trade smoking cessation among older cohorts for vaping addiction in teenagers. We have a massive public policy failure on our hands, and it's not getting better.
The only thing we can say is well, at least the public health crisis won't be as bad as what we had with cigarettes. Okay. But we didn't have to have one at all. E-cig companies (many of which are actually owned by the old tobacco giants) have successfully ensnared a whole new generation of addicts.
[+] [-] bobcallme|7 years ago|reply
You are partially responsible for this. Why is it the first response to blame everyone else but it is never the fault of those who are on the front lines (teachers, parents, people in the community)? I am stick and tired of the parents who can't F' talk to their kids ("the government needs to do more!"), school administrators who are not doing their job (last time I checked, having any tobacco / nicotine products on school grounds is quite illegal for both students and faculty : with fines and possible jail time) and the fact that there are much more dire issues in many communities that need to be addressed (maybe the opioid and Heroin epidemic?). The fact that there are much more harmful things that teens can get a hold of should be a priority over this FUD.
> The media has also failed it’s obligations. Most news articles are practically advertisements for e-cigarettes, promoting them as smoking cessation tools and practically harmless compared to other tobacco products. They are not FDA approved and the evidence for their efficacy and safety is sketchy at best.
The media has no obligation to you or me to do anything. E-cigarettes have helped quite a few people I know stop smoking (to the point that they don't even vape anymore). Running factually inaccurate ads like this [1] NSFW is much more harmful than any AD sponsored by big tobacco / e-cigarette companies. Lying to teens is not going to have the desired effect that you are looking for and it's going to make them want to do the opposite. As for the health effects, it is going to be just like anything else that can have undesired / dangerous substances if it comes from a questionable source. I'm sure that e-cigarettes are much better than inhaling traditional combustible cigarettes (I'm not denying that there could be health issues if use continued over X time).
[1] NSFW FDA AD / The Real Cost https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYuyS1Oq8gY
Edit: missing word