Only 2 weeks ago, a bunch of U.S. Senators, led by Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), ripped into several e-cigarette makers for their alleged irresponsible marketing of their products to young people. The Senator s evidence for this apparently was restricted to his perception that any flavored e-cig products other than tobacco and menthol were aimed at kids, thus termed by him and others opposed to reduced-harm products as kid-friendly flavors. The underlying motivation for the existence of such flavored products was thought to be a conspiracy (we imagine) between Big Tobacco and the thousands of e-cigarette makers to entice young people into nicotine addiction via flavored vapes and then into becoming regular smokers.
While this entire scenario is somewhere between nonsensical and paranoid, a new collection of data lends further support to the falsity of the kid-friendly flavor hypothesis. An online survey from the E-Cig Forum collected flavor preferences from their subscribers, a bit over 10,000 of whom responded. Approximately 70 percent of their respondents selected non-traditional (novel or kid-friendly, as it were) flavors as their preference for their vaping liquids. (This survey and its results were publicized most widely by Jacob Sullum in Forbes.com).
Along with the other popular but false propaganda routinely making the rounds of the devoted, dogged opponents of harm-reduction products, this one that pleasing flavors are desired mainly by and aimed at attracting young people to nicotine addiction is completely unsupported by evidence. Others of this ilk include an epidemic of nicotine poisoning, and the skyrocketing rate of regular use of e-cigs among youngsters. All are phony, based upon either wild imaginations such as that of Sen. Rockefeller, or distorted manipulated data, the favorite trick of UCSF s Stanton Glantz and the CDC s Tom Frieden. Someday soon, the evidence of e-cig/vapor s benefits in getting inveterate smokers to replace their deadly habit with minimal risk products will become manifest. I cannot wait to see these deceptive ideologues eat their words while millions of ex-smokers regain their health.
