A morbidity and mortality report released by the CDC in June of this year revealed stark decreases in smoking among younger populations. In 2016, 47.2% of high schoolers and 42.4% of middle schoolers admitted to using tobacco products—e-cigarettes occupying 11.3% of high schooler and 4.3% of middle schooler tobacco consumption.
However, recent numbers have shown that the numbers have decreased by more than 50% for high schoolers–20.2%–and middle school aged consumption was down over 85%– measuring in at 7.2% as of May 2017. These numbers are calling into question the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s claims that there have been “no significant declines in overall high school tobacco use.”
The CDC has often mirrored the claims of the FDA by continuing to lump e-cigarettes in with traditional tobacco products such as cigarettes and cigars, ignoring the fact that many vaping products contain less or even ZERO nicotine as compared to their traditional counterparts.
The evidence is piling up. Even the CDC has recently unveiled a new webpage on e-cigarettes conceding that “e-cigarettes have the potential to benefit adult smokers who are not pregnant if used as a complete substitute for regular cigarettes and other smoked tobacco products.”
Public Health England (PHE), a government agency in the UK published a detailed report in 2015 stating a need to publicize the “current best estimate that using [electronic cigarettes] is around 95% safer than smoking.”
While vaping may not be 100% safe (and let’s be real—what is?), there is now mounting evidence supporting that it is far less hazardous than the political pundits and governmental agencies would have us believe.
