Vaping and the #GreatAmericanSmokeout

Today is the Great American Smokeout. If you smoke, please consider finding a smoking cessation program to help you kick the habit. If you’re tempted to start smoking, please think hard and fast about the public and personal health risks associated with it. The same applies to vaping.

The health risks associated with vaping could dwarf the health risks associated with tobacco. Vaping delivers high levels of nicotine and has been quickly addicting millions of Americans. This is not unlike what happened in the opioid crisis, where major pharmaceutical companies like Purdue Pharma argued that OxyContin and similar pain medicine was not highly addictive.

We are now seeing that vaping is causing serious respiratory problems. People are dying from vaping related lung injuries, and while scientists seek the specific causes, the root cause is the unregulated and unfettered access that everyone has to vaping.

The public health community and the government clearly need to stand up and demand action. While Americans do not like to see products banned, we know from history that heavy taxation and public education will drive a lot of people away from this product. Several weeks ago, we had Matthew Myers on our radio show. We can all learn a lot from his experiences taking on big tobacco as we seek ways of addressing this latest profit-driven health threat.