PROBLEM: Much of tobacco control research on these new #SaferNicotine alternatives is very dodgy science. Studies that find harms in adult vapers by ignoring the fact that most of them are former smokers. Studies that misuse nicotine vape devices, running them at max power on a dry wick...
Nicotine was demonized for a good reason: to discourage smoking. Today, however, there are many #SaferNicotine alternatives. So the four decades we spent demonizing nicotine is now causing harm. it is time to de-demonize this mild non-intoxicating stimulant...
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44% of Turkish men smoke. But for some reason, their government has prohibited #SaferNicotine vapes, leaving deadly cigarettes legal an available on every street corner.
44% of Turkish men smoke. But for some reason, their government has prohibited #SaferNicotine vapes, leaving deadly cigarettes legal an available on every street corner.
Deadly cigarettes vs. #SaferNicotine vapes are product substitutes Terri. If one goes up the other goes down. Like electric cars vs. combustion engine cars or digital vs. film cameras.
Some US states restrict alcohol to what are sometimes called "packaging stores." Those can be easily age-gated (it's a legacy of prohibition). Some past-Presidents of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco recommended that model for sales of both deadly combustibles and #SaferNicotine.
Why do this now, AFTER US teen nicotine vaping dropped 70% over the past five years to a 10-year low?
www.cdc.gov/media/releas...
Obviously, making #SaferNicotine vapes less affordable to ADULTS will protect cigarette sales and discourage smoking cessation. Seems unwise.
Humans who smoke deadly cigarettes should be encouraged to switch to #SaferNicotine alternatives. So far, US public health officials are VERY reluctant to recommend that. In contrast, the UK govt just gave 1 million free nicotine vapes to adults who smoke. 58% of them quit smoking.
Right. This is a Big Tobacco Protection Bill. They sell it as a bill that will protect our angelic children. What it actually does is kill their competitors: Companies that cannibalize their deadly cigarette sales AND sales of Big Tobacco's #SaferNicotine vapes.
Wait... WHAT?!!! #SaferNicotine alternatives vs. deadly cigarettes are PRODUCT SUBSTITUTES? Who knew?
Right? ...Other than 21 million US adults; 5 million UK adults; oodles of New Zealand adults and especially Maori women).
Big Tobacco is lobbying hard for that bill. They want to kill products that undermine sales of their deadly cigarettes AND their #SaferNicotine vapes.
FYI: US teen nicotine vaping dropped 70% over the past 5 years to a 10-year low. So... protect them from what? VERY few kids use those products.
The FDA's Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) lives on. Some got hired back. They're trying to streamline the authorization process now. So far, however, they seem to favor #SaferNicotine alternative products made by Big Tobacco companies over independents. Which is troubling.
I can order alcohol from UberEats. The courier comes to my door. Asks for my ID. Done deal.
Alcohol kills 178,000 Americans every year.
I cannot order #SaferNicotine alternatives that help people quit smoking. Why? Online sales are illegal.
Smoking kills 490,000 every year. 😕
Hypothetically: What if there are safer nicotine alternatives to the deadly cigarettes that kill 490,000 Americans every year, and 8 million worldwide?
medium.com/@tchad49/whe...
FYI: icotine patches and nicotine gum ARE #SaferNicotine alternatives. They're on the WHO "Essential Medicines List."
I admire those teens. Cigarettes are haram. Yet Muslim majority countries have VERY high smoking rates.
If you are Muslim and need a heart valve, it is halal to accept a pig valve because that will save your life. So what about #SaferNicotine alternatives to deadly cigarettes?
I wonder if anyone maintains a list of tobacco control studies that have been retracted. There is, as you know, a large community of informed ex-smokers who "quit the wrong way" with nicotine vapes or other #SaferNicotine.
If I ask them questions like this, I usually get an answer in minutes.
...And no one admits that the real reason the Government of India prohibited #SaferNicotine vapes is to protect bidi walas and its state-owned India Tobacco Company Ltd.
Sigh. Part of me knows this UCL research is important to challenge very well-funded *pushed* health misinformation about #SaferNicotine alternatives.
Part of me thinks that this is a mind-bogglingly stupid waste of time, dithering and hedging while Rome burns (millions of smoking-related deaths).
The question is, who is funding those ads? Right? ANSWER: US billionaire Mike Bloomberg, a #HarmReduction denier. His foundations spend ~$160 million per year to demonize #SaferNicotine alternatives to deadly cigarettes.
Here is what is actually happening according to CDC, FDA and NIH surveys.
It is SAFE to leave your bicycle in the garage. If you ride, it is SAFER to wear a bicycle helmet.
It is SAFE to have no sex. If you have sex, it is SAFER to wear a condom.
It is SAFE to breath pristine mountain air. If you smoke, it is safer to switch to #SaferNicotine alternatives.
We agree reducing death is super-good. AND reducing teen nicotine use is good. I think these 2 good goals carry different moral weight but that's a different issue.
We both agree #SaferNicotine alternatives are SAFER. For me, that triggers an ethical decision.
(I used to teach Healthcare Ethics)
#SaferNicotine: I suspect if cigarettes delivered caffeine instead of nicotine, public health would have demonized caffeine. We'd be told caffeine is a "highly addictive brain toxin." Exaggerating (or inventing) harms to encourage better public health behavior is a dangerous slippery slope.
Great news. I am frustrated by the fact that the media ignores good news like this.
The world is shifting from fossil fuels to clean energy alternatives because they're cheaper now.
The world is shifting from deadly combustible tobacco to #SaferNicotine alternatives because they're... safer.
But most smokers start in their teens. In any case, #ADHD adults ARE 3 times morely likely to smoke than neurotypicals.
Numerous studies show nicotine patches reduce ADHD symptoms, so I assume ADHD smokers are self-medicating. Cigarettes kill, so they should shift to #SaferNicotine alternatives.
Because old-school tobacco control experts, steeped in the decades-long War Against Big Tobacco, assume #SaferNicotine alternatives must be:
- an evil Big Tobacco plot
- designed to lure children
A "drug" is any psychoactive substance. Are YOU a PWUD? A Person Who Uses Drugs? If you answer "yes" to any of the following, you ARE a PWUD.
Do you use:
- coffee, caffeinated tea, energy drinks?
- alcohol (beer, wine, spirits)?
- nicotine (deadly cigarettes or #SaferNicotine alternatives)?
All over the free world (where #SaferNicotine alternatives are legal), the adult age group with steepest rate of smoking decline (by far) is young adults.
Yet many Tobacco Control "experts" continue to claim "vaping is a gateway to smoking." I'm not sure how they can say this with a straight face.
Grandstanding on the standard "just think of the children" theme...
5.9% of teens vape "at least one time in the past 30 days"
3.8% of THOSE buy their nicotine vapes online
3.8% of 5.9% = 0.2% = 1 in 500 (near nil)
Being alarmed about teens buying #SaferNicotine products online is insane.
In many countries, vaping RATES are higher among "youth" than "older age groups."
However, in ALL countries, the NUMBER of adults using #SaferNicotine vapes is higher than the number of "youth."
So #HarmReduction deniers never give absolute numbers. They want us to think most vapers are teens.
