To Protect Youth from Progression to Cigarette Smoking, Truth Initiative Wants to Ban the Fake Ones But Let Real Cigarettes Remain on the Shelves

In anop-ed piece published byCNN last Friday, the president of the Truth Initiative bemoaned the " epidemic " of vaping among our nation ' s youth, arguing that electronic cigarette use leads to smoking. She citedresearch which shows " that young people who vape are more likely than their peers who don ' t vape to smoke traditional cigarettes in the future. "And what does the Truth Initiative propose should be done to prevent a massive youth migration to cigarette smoking?A. Ban or severely restrict the sale of cigarettes.B. Ban or severely restrict the sale of both cigarettes and e-cigarettes.C. Neither of the above.The answer ...... C. Neither of the above.Instead, the Truth Initiative is calling for option D:D. Only ban flavored e-cigarettes, but leave cigarettes on the shelves, easily accessible to youth in every convenience store and gas station in the country.The Rest of the StoryI ' m sorry, but there is simply no justification for banning the sale of most electronic cigarettes but allowing real cigarettes, which kill more than 400,000 Americans each year, to remain on the shelves, almost completely unregulated.One of the major arguments that the Truth Initiative CEO offers to support her call for a ban on all flavored e-cigarettes is that when JUUL pulled its flavors other than mint and menthol from store shelves, youth simply switched to mint and menthol flavors. But if that ' s true, then shouldn ' t we be concerned that if flavored e-cigarettes are banned, youth wi...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs