What went wrong in the USA
Governments, health authorities, medical professionals, anti-smoking groups and health-related nonprofits utilized mainstream media to repeatedly claim that vaping was injuring people without specifying that the injuries were caused from illegal THC cartridges.
Over and over again, they included vaping nicotine in their conversations, statements and announcements. A false narrative that blamed vaping nicotine for the lung injuries spread throughout the public and the health community.
CDC contradicts their evidence
As a national health authority, the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a responsibility to report on the facts. Their publications influence medical policies in the USA and all over the world. During the lung injury outbreak, despite the growing evidence that vaping street-level drugs were the cause, the CDC continued to allude that vaping nicotine was to blame.
FDA vs CDC accuracy
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CDC advised the public about the facts on the lung injuries. Both released reports on Sept. 6, 2019. It is very clear, when reading the titles of the two reports that the CDC chose a fear-based narrative about vaping nicotine and omitted the cause of EVALI. It’s important to note that the word “e-cigarettes” means vaping nicotine.
Health-related regulatory bodies
During the outbreak, health-related regulatory bodies, such as the American Medical Association (AMA), joined the CDC in avoiding identifying the causality of the outbreak. They continued to scare the public about vaping nicoine with the fear-based narratives they have been promoting for years. As a result, health professionals continue to be misinformed about tobacco harm reduction.
State officials & harm reduction
Utilizing the outbreak, Gov. Baker discouraged the smokers in Massachusetts from switching to vaping. He banned most flavours which are essential to helping smokers detox and withdrawal from cigarettes by making vaping appealing. He added a tax which makes vaping more expensive for the poor which have the highest smoking rates.
Fake news
The United Kingdom (UK) promotes vaping for smokers. They are different than most of the world because they independently reviewed the science on vaping before the global narrative that Canada has adopted was dictated. The deceptions about EVALI were so pervasive that even their citizens became misinformed!
The lies are working
The misinformation campaign through authority and media has convinced the public that vaping nicotine is the source of EVALI. Within 15 months, an increase of 13% of the people wrongly believe that vaping is MORE harmful than smoking, The public now demands eliquid flavour bans and other restrictions on tobacco harm reduction (vaping).
For over 20 years, RealClearPolicy has been reviewing US domestic policy and analyzes “the most pivotal information on the day’s need-to-know issues”. They reviewed how the CDC handled EVALI in their article titled, Heads Should Roll at CDC after Botched Vaping Investigation.
Filter is a nonprofit, their mission is to …”advocate through journalism for rational and compassionate approaches to drug use, drug policy and human rights”. Their critique of how CDC handled EVALI is titled, Vapes and Lung Disease: The CDC’s Lesson in How Not to Handle an Illness Outbreak.
