What happened when the US Food and Drug Administration authorised just one single vape product for sale on the American market ?
Acclaimed author and tobacco harm reduction activist David P Forsyth said the figures showed that more young people had quit vaping than those who started or continued combined .
There was an outpouring of outrage from critics who chimed in with the same weary and predictable complaint that it would fuel the ‘ youth vaping epidemic .’
The pressure group Parents Against Vaping was quick to take to social media to make its views known .
It said : “ The FDA must deny ALL flavoured products … for the protection of public health . Big Tobacco is preying upon and addicting millions of kids !”
Senator Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut was just as vocal .
He tweeted : “ Greenlighting e-cigarettes — with a teen vaping epidemic underway — seems to raise huge public health dangers . There are safer , sounder ways to end tobacco use and addiction .”
The only small problem is that the USA is NOT in the grip of any such epidemic .
According to the FDA ’ s own official figures , youth vaping numbers have been on the decline for two years .
Data released jointly by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control showed that teen vaping plunged by more than 40 percent in 2021 compared to the year before .
In the past two years teen vaping rates have dropped by 60 percent , from more than five million to two million .
He said : “ This was a fad fuelled by hyped publicity of the new forbidden fruit . Luckily it is less harmful or addictive than smoking .”
Anti-vaping activists constantly highlight the spiralling vaping rates amongst school children , but the evidence is against them also .
Official statistics reveal that in the past year , vaping fell from 19.6 percent to 11.3 percent amongst high schoolers and from 4.7 percent to 2.8 percent in middle schools .
Gregory Conley , president of the American Vaping Association , said it was ‘ absurd ’ that the FDA was ‘ trying to ban nearly every product currently on the market ’ when its own research showed that flavoured vaping products helped adult smokers quit .
He said : “ We need to do more to combat youth usage of not just vaping , but tobacco products , cannabis , and alcohol as well .
“ All stakeholders in this debate should be pleased to see youth vaping fall for the second year in a row .
“ Unfortunately , since the FDA has already dedicated itself to a path of moral panic and prohibition , these results are not being trumpeted as a victory .
“ Rather , the FDA is twisting the data to justify its actions over the last month , which have caused millions of adult vapers and thousands of small business owners to fear for their futures .”
Unfortunately , since the FDA has already dedicated itself to a path of moral panic and prohibition , these results are not being trumpeted as a victory .
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