Tobacco Prohibitionists Not Letting This Pandemic Go to Waste

Anti-tobacco forces are callously abusing COVID-19-driven anxiety, pain and suffering as they spew their unique brand of science-free propaganda.  A good example is a video interview, titled “The Dangers Of Vaping and Smoking During Coronavirus,” with Matt Myers, head of the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids (here).  Following are selected Myers quotes, with my observations (in bold). 

The interview opens with a question on new research suggesting that nicotine might protect smokers from developing COVID-19 illness:

“It is completely false….it is pure and simple bad science.  Last week the World Health Organization convened 29 of the world’s leading scientists, and what they found was two things: First, in fact smoking increases your risk of serious diseases – of serious effects of this disease.  And B, there is no credible evidence that smoking provides any protective effect.  All of the science points that smoking, and potentially vaping, increases your risk of the most serious consequences.”

Myers, a lawyer, is making dogmatic statements on science that legitimate scientists are unwilling to make at this time.  Certainly, a debate about the effects of nicotine and smoking on COVID-19 infection prevalence and illness severity is warranted; here are some articles, pro (here, here, here) and con (here, here).    

“Even if vaping was significantly less hazardous, and we don’t know that for sure, it is still a dangerous product.” 

Even if…?  Extremists are incapable of acknowledging the most incontrovertible facts.  Despite their denials, inhaling vapor has been proven vastly safer than inhaling toxic smoke.  Myers’s denial was a set-up for his major theme – the so-called teen vaping epidemic.

“…in the United States we have over 5 million kids who have become addicted to e-cigarettes.  Many of them would have never smoked in their life…We have a youth e-cigarette epidemic that we need to address…In the last 3 to 4 years we have seen more kids become addicted to e-cigarettes…addicted in a way that’s even more powerful than we’ve seen with cigarettes.”

Myers’ “5 million” is a complete fabrication.  The 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey, from which the highest estimates are drawn by the CDC, indicates that, at most, 172,000 underage teens might have been addicted to e-cigarettes (evidence here).  There is nothing to suggest that any of these youths have an e-cigarette addiction that is more powerful than cigarettes.

The interviewer asked a leading question about H.R. 2339, a bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives but languishing in the Senate, that is meant to reverse the youth tobacco epidemic.  “This is one of the most important pieces of legislation Congress could pass.  It would prohibit the sale of all flavored e-cigarettes…it would ban the sale of menthol cigarettes…the tobacco industry has marketed menthol cigarettes to African-American youth and adults with devastating consequences…Eighty-five percent of African-Americans use menthol cigarettes…because the tobacco industry has targeted them.”

Myers wants to ban menthol cigarettes.  Despite a flood of research articles, the FDA has never developed a scientific rationale for such a ban (here and here).   Myers makes a common mistake in claiming menthol is all about race, as a full 68 percent of menthol smokers are not African-American (here).

Tobacco prohibitionists, armed with unfactual talking points, aren’t letting this pandemic go to waste.

FDA and CDC’s Irresponsible Covid-19 Actions and Inactions

Long after today’s Covid-19 crisis, Americans will remember the catastrophic failures of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration, the two federal agencies tasked with protecting public health.

Covid-19 infections were first reported in Washington State in late January, virtually at the same time as in South Korea.  According to a detailed timeline, that country immediately “pursued a trace, test, and treat strategy that identifies and isolates those infected with the coronavirus while allowing healthy people to go about their normal lives…the U.S. lost six crucial weeks because regulators stuck to rigid regulations…” which “proved disastrous in a pandemic.”  A Reuters headline put it succinctly: “…Korea trounced U.S. in [a] race to test people for coronavirus.”

John P.A. Ioannidis, professor of medicine, epidemiology and population health at Stanford University, opined: “Covid-19 has been called a once-in-a-century pandemic. But it may also be a once-in-a-century evidence fiasco.”  He noted that as a consequence of the testing disaster, officials have been required to institute draconian countermeasures, including extreme social distancing and lockdowns.  “But,” he observes, “with lockdowns of months, if not years, life largely stops, short-term and long-term consequences are entirely unknown, and billions, not just millions, of lives may be eventually at stake.  If we decide to jump off the cliff, we need some data to inform us about the rationale of such an action and the chances of landing somewhere safe.”

Bureaucrats at the CDC and the FDA delayed the rapid development of Covid-19 testing by failing to adapt to emergent conditions and stuck to rigid regulations that take months and years.  These failures have been documented in publications from across the political spectrum, including conservative and libertarian outlets, and the liberal New York Times (here and here).

The FDA’s primary error was its failure to quickly approve Covid-19 tests from university and commercial laboratories.  This sort of “regulatory purgatory” has plagued the sale of vastly safer cigarette substitutes (examples here, here, here and here) -- inaction that contributes to the premature deaths of 480,000 inveterate smokers annually.  Delayed Covid-19 testing has already resulted in tens of millions of Americans having lost their livelihoods, and for far too many, their lives.

The FDA is continuing its unscientific anti-vape campaign with a Covid-19 twist.  Spokesperson Michael Felberbaum provided this warning to Bloomberg News: “People with underlying health issues, such as heart or lung problems, may have increased risk for serious complications from Covid-19.  This includes people who smoke and/or vape tobacco or nicotine-containing products.  E-cigarettes can damage lung cells.”

There is absolutely no evidence that individuals who vape have increased Covid-19 risks.  It is irresponsible for the FDA to make unscientific and unsubstantiated allegations about e-cigarettes without a shred of evidence.  

FDA Infographic on Teen Vaping: Hey Kids!

Following my recent discussion of the FDA’s self-proclaimed “laser-targeted” vaping epidemic ad campaign, I turn to the FDA Student Infographic: How Much Do You Know About the Epidemic?, shown in the photo at left.

Clive Bates kindly provides the following translations of the infographic’s key elements.

More than 5 million U.S. youth are using e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes, also known as “vapes,” are becoming increasingly popular among teens.

Hey, time to get with the program. All kids, especially cooler kids are doing it...

You may have already seen or heard about students vaping in your school, but it is important to know that certain types of vapes can be used very discreetly.

Everyone else is at it, except you - you just don't realise…

Certain products emit very low amounts of aerosol or “vapor,” which makes them easier to use discreetly than combustible cigarettes.

And you can keep it hidden from mom...

SOME TEENS REPORT USING E-CIGARETTES IN SCHOOL BATHROOMS AND EVEN IN THE CLASSROOM.

How cool is that...? In the ******* classroom!!!

Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, the same highly addictive drug in cigarettes. Some e-cigarettes may contain as much nicotine as a pack of 20 regular cigarettes.

Wow... sounds awesome... and cost-effective. A way of smoking without smoking!! 

Some devices popular among teens — like JUUL and myblu — are as small as a USB flash drive and even look like one.

And we offer product recommendations, in case you aren't sure what to buy...

Bates’s translations are more than humorous.  They identify a serious and unrecognized problem: For years the media has been flooded by counter-productive scaremongering press releases and announcements from FDA and other tobacco prohibitionists about teen e-cigarette use.  It’s hard to imagine a more effective way to advertise and promote vaping to vulnerable teens.