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NOT HELPING
Anyone
Anti-vaping ideology is hindering COVID-19 progress
Words: Gordon Stribling
It might be considered trite to say that COVID-19 has put
the EVALI 'epidemic' into perspective. But to those of us
on the inside of 2019's mass hysteria about lung injury,
the current, palpable threat to everyone from all walks of
life makes last year's anti-vaping panic seem even more
misplaced.
But if we've learned anything from the past few years
it's this: anti-vape groups will always find an
angle with which to rally against 'tobacco'
- even to the potential detriment to those
they are supposedly trying to help.
There is perhaps no more frustrating
example of this than The Campaign for
Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), which has
naturally redirected its campaign during
COVID-19.
CTFK is, of course, against the reopening of vape shops
that supply less harmful alternatives to the widely available
tobacco you would assume they are trying to eradicate. A
shame, because it is well-established that tobacco makes
COVID-19 symptoms worse.
CFTK President Matthew L Myers said: "It is highly
irresponsible to argue e-cigarettes should be considered
essential when they could well put users at greater risk for
serious complications from COVID-19. They are addicting
our kids, and they have not been proven to help smokers
quit."
While few would refute their supposed MO of keeping
vape and actual tobacco products away from kids,
the ongoing discussion around the potential
preventative effect of nicotine against
COVID-19 suggests that ideology trumps
the need to prevent the spread of a disease
that has killed upwards of 500,000 people
worldwide, and claims more lives with
every passing day.
The idea that tobacco (or more precisely,
the nicotine within it) may help prevent
COVID-19 is an uncomfortable one for some. But
as we'll explore more throughout the magazine, it's not
a half-baked idea, nor is it part of a Big Tobacco plot to
airdrop JUUL starter kits from army supply planes.
However, CTFK continues to peddle the line that 'there is no
evidence to suggest smokers are protected from COVID-19'
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