2 Reasons Biden’s New Nicotine Bans Could Have Lethal Consequences
Gas prices are out-of-control, inflation isn’t abating, the stock market is crashing, and a major war is threatening global peace. But don’t worry, the Biden administration’s federal bureaucrats are focused on the real problems we face…
Banning Juuls?
That’s right: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly planning to order the company Juul to completely remove its popular e-cigarette and vaping products from the US market. Health bureaucrats say they’re doing this to combat teen use of Juuls and other vaping products. (A dubious justification).
Other vaping and e-cigarette products would still be available. But this nanny state overreach could still backfire—to lethal effect.
1. Banning Juul Means More Lung Cancer
“By banning the most effective and popular e-cigarette on the market, there is no doubt that the FDA's choice will force a portion of current Juul users to go back to smoking, and an unknown number of smokers to never make the healthier switch to vaping,” the Reason Foundation’s Guy Bentley concludes.
As Bentley says, this ban would mean an untold but significant number of Americans shifting back to traditional cigarette smoking or never quitting in the first place.
This means more Americans dying of lung cancer.
Why?
Well, it’s a common misconception, but the nicotine in cigarettes isn’t what causes lung cancer. It’s actually the tar and other carcinogens in cigarettes that cause cancer. Nicotine addiction and vaping do have other health risks, yes, but they don’t cause lung cancer like cigarettes do.
That’s just a fact. Indeed, some experts estimate that, while still not great for you, vaping may be up to 95% healthier than traditional cigarette smoking.
So why, exactly, are Biden bureaucrats banning the (much) lesser of two evils? And why does anyone believe this will improve rather than hurt public health?
But the Biden administration’s regulatory dysfunction may go even further than this idiotic Juul ban. It’s also reportedly moving ahead to mandate that tobacco companies vastly reduce the amount of nicotine in their cigarettes.
This move is motivated by the ostensibly noble goal of making these products less addictive and hopefully preventing future generations from getting hooked. (Although cigarette smoking rates have already collapsed and continue to plummet). Yet it too could have lethal consequences.
2. Restricting Nicotine in Cigarettes Will Have Unintended Consequences
For one, many lifelong smokers may turn to black-market products rather than smoke weak-sauce cigarettes. This could lead to more health hazards, like it did during the infamous “vaping panic” where dozens died not actually from vaping, but from using black market THC products that were illegal in many states.
Secondly, millions of American smokers may start smoking more cigarettes in order to get their nicotine fix. And, because once again, nicotine itself isn’t the cancer-causing element, this would actually put these people at higher risk of lung cancer and associated death risks.
https://twitter.com/brad_polumbo/status/1539788688514768896
All for what, exactly?
Cigarette smoking continues to go out of fashion, as more and more people realize it’s both bad for you and gross. And we should want to encourage, not ban, less-unhealthy alternatives.
Arrogant government bureaucrats might think they can fix the world by telling people what to do.
But their overreach may very well lead to more people dying, all because the Biden administration can’t stomach the idea of adults making decisions for themselves.
Like this article? Check out the latest BASEDPolitics podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or below: