Vaping Advocates Protest in Utah & More
Vaping advocates protest PMTA bill in Utah. Another study finds vaping is safer than smoking. Reporter scaremongers in Georgia. CASAA gets quoted. Questionable study about menthol bans. Multiple Calls to Action and much more!
Scroll to the bottom of this post for a link to the audio/video versions of this post!
CALLS TO ACTION
WYOMING
There was already a hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 21st!
SF 107 would put independent vape shops out of business, hundreds of workers out of jobs, and thousands of people at risk of returning to smoking, or delaying attempts at quitting!
TAKE ACTION: Wyoming: Stop a Big Tobacco Protection Bill!
MISSISSIPPI
SB 2441 would put independent vape shops out of business, hundreds of workers out of jobs, and thousands of people at risk of returning to smoking, or delaying attempts at quitting.
TAKE ACTION: Mississippi: Stop a Big Tobacco Protection Bill!
IOWA
SB 3101 (a PMTA bill) already had a hearing on Wednesday, February 21st!
Please take a minute to send an email to or call your state senator urging them to oppose SB 3101!
TAKE ACTION: Iowa: Stop a Big Tobacco Protection Bill!
IDAHO
S.1366 would put independent vape shops out of business, hundreds of workers out of jobs, and thousands of people at risk of returning to smoking, or delaying attempts at quitting.
Please urge your lawmakers to oppose S.1366!
TAKE ACTION: Idaho: Stop a Big Tobacco Protection Bill!
FLORIDA
⚠️URGENT⚠️ There is a HEARING on Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 9:00 AM!
We strongly encourage Florida vapers to SIGN UP TO SPEAK at this hearing. This could be your LAST CHANCE to stop the loss of access to thousands of vape products!
TAKE ACTION: Florida: Stop a Big Tobacco Protection Bill!
GEORGIA
⚠️URGENT⚠️ There is a HEARING scheduled for Monday, February 26 at 2:00 PM!
HB 1260 would put independent vape shops out of business and severely reduce access to thousands of vape products people depend on!
TAKE ACTION: Georgia: Stop a Big Tobacco Protection Bill!
SOUTH CAROLINA
⚠️UPDATE⚠️ There is a HEARING scheduled for Thursday, February 29th at 9:00 AM!
????South Carolina only allows spoken comments on bills at the subcommittee level, so it’s important to SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMENTS!
VIRGINIA
⚠️URGENT⚠️ There is a Senate HEARING SCHEDULED for SB 550/HB 1069 on Monday, February 26th at 15 minutes after adjournment!
Unless you want to only have access to Big Tobacco vapes in your state, take action NOW!
TAKE ACTION: Virginia: Stop the Joe Camel Protection Act!
RESEARCH
Asking “WHY Are Youth Vaping?” Is Important
This study finds that adolescents and young adults who experience major depressive episodes or have cognitive disabilities are at higher risk of vaping.
In other words, they’re “self-medicating.” So if safer-than-smoking vapor products are banned then what will they use?
Bans only address the what instead of the far more important why. If we address the why (youth mental health crisis) instead of only addressing the what (by banning products shown to reduce health risks for adults who would otherwise be smoking) that will be win-win for public health! Youth would get the mental health treatments they so desperately need instead of turning to increasingly more dangerous substances, and millions of adults who smoke will continue to have access to low risk alternatives and avoid smoking-related diseases and death.
Study underscores critical link between youth mental health & vaping risk. Let’s review the SFOA to understand vaping’s impact on youth & smokers. A roundtable for effective strategies to reduce access & support harm reduction! @fordnation @DocsVsTobacco https://t.co/iLTrS3ueIS
— Darryl Tempest (@tempyy) February 20, 2024
Study Claims Menthol Bans Help People Quit Smoking
A co-author of this study told readers, “Contrary to claims by the tobacco industry, we did not see an increase in the use of illicit products.
However, the review also states that 25% of people “found a way to continue smoking menthols.” What “way” did they find, exactly? Possibly the illicit market?
On another note, only the abstract was available at the time of this blog post, which makes no mention of the racial breakdown of the 25% who quit. This is interesting because one of the main arguments given for a menthol ban is “racial disparity.”
Also an important question: Do the people who continue to expose themselves to deadly smoke because they don’t quit until “after a year or two” actually stay quit after that? Most people make several attempts at quitting, but fewer than 8% succeed. Of those, many relapse months and even years later.
How many seconds will the menthol ban take to completely fail? bout .48 seconds. https://t.co/NWBvf485WH
— JerryReed…
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