FEATURE
The vaping industry has so far dealt with its fair share of doubt and
mistrust, from alarm over ‘popcorn lung’ to suspicion surrounding
chemicals in artificial flavours. But nothing is more damning to an
industry than fake news, the spread of which on nicotine is picking up
speed Stateside.
Image source: @mlswellness
By Phoebe Fuller
In the US, high schools, politicians, medical officials and parents
are waging a war on e-cigarettes. This isn’t news. There has been
an influx of fearmongering over what’s been described as an
‘epidemic’ of nicotine addiction, with the tightening of regulation
and prohibition playing out across the nation.
For American vapers, the most popular device is unequivocally
the JUUL. With a high nicotine concentration and an ease-of-
use that appeals to smokers who want an easy switch without
any hassle, it’s the sort of device that might have been hailed for
helping so many smokers quit.
Instead, JUUL’s introduction to the US market has been met
with vocal opposition and pitchfork-wielding campaigns that call
vaping devices, “the modern cigarette.” The perceived enemy?
Nicotine. And it’s perceived target? Kids.
Schools up and down the country have started targeting
e-cigarettes in their anti-tobacco campaigns, which would be
fine if they discerned between the two; but they don’t. Marion L.
Steele high school in Amherst, Ohio has gone as far as to make
bold claims that vaping kills people like cigarettes do, a claim not
supported by any available evidence.
“I died from vape,” reads a customised t-shirt worn by a student.
‘Tobacco zombie’ on the school’s “Kick Butts Day” which has
been widely publicised on their Twitter account; another similar
shirt reads, “I died of stage 4 lung cancer from JUULING,” and
another depicts pictures of blackened lungs, a typical result of
smoking tobacco, with the accompanying quote “JUUL lung.”
In every news story, information pack, or campaign that speaks
against vaping, the fact that e-cigarettes contain nicotine “just
like a cigarette,” is quoted. There’s often a mention of exactly how
many cigarettes a certain nicotine level equates to, implying that
nicotine is what makes a cigarette life-threateningly dangerous –
not the myriad other chemicals present in tobacco.
According to Medical News Today, the International Agency for
Research on Cancer does not classify nicotine as carcinogenic
or cancer causing. And yet, every anti-vaping news story or
campaign mentions nicotine in e-cigarettes as the reason they’re
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VM23 at all costs.
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In Massachusetts, a governmental campaign entitled ‘The New
Look of Nicotine’ has been rolled out to schools and parents,
declaring “vapes and cigarettes: different products, same
dangers,” further fuelling the notion that e-cigarettes are the
same, in terms of danger, to a cigarette.
No reputable person in this industry is going to advocate that
nicotine is good for you. But for those using e-cigarettes instead
of combustibles, it’s about recognising the difference between
something that, at its worst, isn’t objectively “good” for you,
and something that will actively try and kill you. Therein lies
the difference between e-cigarettes containing nicotine and
traditional tobacco products.
Encouraging young people to avoid e-cigarettes is an endeavour
that the vaping industry absolutely supports. But if it’s to be
done properly, it’s important that misinformation is not used as
a deterrent; lest we risk giving young people – many of whom
already smoke cigarettes - the impression that they might as well
keep smoking, because the alternative is ‘just as bad.’
For the facts on nicotine, don’t miss our
‘Ask the Scientist’ feature on pages 50-51