Just wanted to touch base here, to let anyone who cares know that I haven't died, despite my total absence over the last couple weeks: I've had the flu! Which took me completely by surprise, it being April and all – flu is bad enough all by itelf, but try having it when all the trees are in the middle of procreation season, spewing their yellow-green pollen EVERYWHERE. I'm not allergic to tree pollen, but when the air is thick with it, it's hard for ANYONE to breathe; when that "anyone" also happens to be asthmatic, AND have the flu... well, it's been sounding like a TB ward around here lately. I am somewhat on the mend; still coughing to try and clear my lungs of all the excess caused by both the flu and all this damned pollen, but definitely getting better. Hopefully I'll soon be able to get back to lambasting the Smoke-Nazis and the Tobacco Control Cartel.
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In my previous posts, I’ve touched on the many flagrant lies that Tobacco Control attempts to pass off as truth: that secondary smoke is lethally dangerous; that higher prices will motivate smokers to quit; that nicotine is "addictive;" that NRT actually works; that vaping is a “gateway” to smoking; that there is an “epidemic” of “youth vaping" – and last but certainly not least, in the last week, they’ve even scraped the bottom so hard as to present 35 seizures by vapers, in the last ten years, amongst a field of (roughly) 10 to 15 million vapers, as some sort of “hazard” of vaping – though they do manage to (grudgingly) admit that they have no “proof” of any link between those very few seizures and vaping – I know; shocker, right? 🤣 A friend of mine on Twitter has opined that such a tiny number of seizures, in a group that large, over that length of time, surely indicates that vaping is the best anticonvulsant ever created. Be that as it may, in this post I'd like to show you the actual statistics, as noted in the title, for this so-called "epidemic of youth vaping," so that you may see for yourself that it is utterly fictitious, fabricated, completely imaginary. First off, I'd like to thank James Dunsworth of ecigarettedirect.co.uk for sharing the lovely graphics with me, after reading my last post, Kids Under the Bus, Vapers down the Slope. The pertinent data was supplied by ASH UK (for the UK data), and the National Youth Tobacco Survey (for the US data), but the graphics themselves came from ecigarettedirect.co.uk – kudos, and thank you! I could never have done such an amazing job! There is one last graphic, some of whose data was provided by the Australian Secondary Students Use of Tobacco, Alcohol, Over-the-Counter Drugs, and Illicit Substances survey, which is the only info regarding Australia that I decided to include in this post; thanks to their total ban on vaping with nicotine, the vaping situation in Australia is quite complex; in the absence of legal vaping with nicotine as is done in the US and UK, it's simply too complicated a situation to be really pertinent to this particular post – however, the data I do present will make it very clear that putting any type of prohibition on vaping will drastically limit the numbers of smokers who will quit smoking by switching to vaping. But for now -- that imaginary "youth vaping epidemic: Most of the racket (such an appropriate word, since the whole purpose of this campaign of deception is to support the sin tax/MSA racket) about this so-called "epidemic" is being made by the US FDA, so I'll start with the US: As you see, the rate for those teens in the US who have ever tried vaping really took off starting in 2013, reached peak, around 27%, in 2015, and then over the next 2 years, declined to a level just slightly higher than the level in 2014, roughly 21%. 2014 is the first year for which we have data on those who either occasionally or regularly vape, and both of those rates are pretty low; "occasionally" appears to start around 6%, edges up to 7% in 2015, then drops back down to 5% and stays there at least until 2017, which is the last year for which we have data. For those who "regularly" vape, the rate appears to start, in 2014, at roughly 3%, rises just slightly in 2015 to around 4%, then drops back to about 3% and stays there (at least until 2017, which is the last year for which we have data). Epidemic? Where? When? The only one of those rates that might be said to be in "epidemic" territory is the rate for those teens who've "ever tried" vaping – from which we might draw the conclusion that Teens Like To Try New Things. But the rates of the "occasional" and "regular" teen vapers appear to present only another very well-known fact about teens: They Don't Stick To Much Of Anything. We have no data here for what's happened to any of those rates since 2017, but, given that the FDA has been on an utterly-mindless rampage about Juul since sometime in 2018, I'd wager that all the rates, but especially the "ever vaped" and "occasionally vape" rates, have probably climbed astronomically – because all that ranting from the FDA about Juul has almost certainly had the effect of "marketing to youth" – the very thing they accuse Juul of doing! Right beside that, check out how the rates of teen smoking have declined since 2011 – the smallest decline being in those teens who "occasionally" smoke, at -32% -- that means 32% fewer than before 2011. "Ever tried smoking," or those who've smoked "in past month" have declined even more dramatically, to -43% and -47%, respectively. But the most welcome and amazing drop? Those teens who smoke regularly – 59% fewer than before 2011! Naturally, Tobacco Control takes credit for that stunning decline – naturally! But the actual fact of the matter is that Tobacco Control has done nothing different than what they've done since the '90s – except rant about Juul, marketing it to teens! Anyone who has at least one or two functional brain cells should be able to see that vaping is the actual agent of that truly amazing decline in teen smoking – it's the only new factor! Let us now examine the various rates in the United Kingdom: The age group is the same as that in the US, 11-18, but the vaping graph is slightly different, in that the data doesn't begin until 2013, and there is data all the way to 2018 – but the percentage range is far different: in 2013, the year in which, in the US, the rate for those who've "ever tried" vaping really took off, it does the same thing in the UK, but starting at a much lower point: 4% rather than approximately 7%-8% – and the sharp climb, in the UK, goes only to 12%, not the 27% we saw in 2015 in the US. Starting in 2013, "occasional" vaping (once a month or less) starts right at 0, climbs to 2% in 2015, and stays there, right through to 2018. "Weekly" vaping, which might be termed "regular" vaping, doesn't start till 2014, stays flat at 1% till 2017, where it "climbs" to 2% in 2018. I see even less of an "epidemic" in the UK than in the US. The chart for the decline of teen smoking in the UK is also slightly different than that same chart for the US, in that the data ends in 2016, but the pattern is similar: the smallest decline is amongst those teens who "occasionally" smoke; a reasonable decline in the rate of those who've "tried smoking," at 19% – and a dramatic decline in "regular smoking" – a whopping 45% decline! In the UK they also throw in a metric for "ex-smoker," and that rate has also declined, but I have no idea what that means in this context, and since there is nothing in the US data to which it might be compared, for our current purpose that decline in "ex-smoker" rates is rather meaningless. It may well be the only decline for which Tobacco Control can legitimately take, or share, credit; over the long term, from the '90s to 2016, if there were fewer smokers, there would automatically be fewer ex-smokers. One naturally wonders at the differences, slight as they are, between the two sets of data, the US and UK. In the UK, vaping/e-cigarettes are well-accepted by UK Public Health, and endorsed by their Stop Smoking Services as a highly viable and valuable tool for smoking cessation. Contrast that eminently-rational approach, to the many and varied lies about vaping disseminated by Public Health in the US, including the FDA, the CDC, any charlatan with a diploma-mill MD, and even a few total fakers who have NO relevant degree whatsoever (such as that sexual predator Stanton Glantz, with his PhD in mechanical engineering!) – even when looking at the statistics illustrated above, the "public health" idiots in the US are unable to see it as any sort of useful addition to smoking cessation! Or, perhaps they see it plainly enough, but simply wish to discourage anyone – even teens! – from quitting smoking, so as to continue capitalizing on disease and death. As I've noted in The INFAMOUS Master Settlement Agreement, there is big money in selling death, and without that money, those incompetently-governed states which have gambled against their own cititizens by selling Tobacco Bonds will surely go broke, exposing that incompetence and malfeasance; the criminals responsible just can't be having that. I think the difference in the vaping rates is actually explained quite easily. When I was in high school, in the '70s, it was far easier for teens to acquire marijuana, than alcohol – buying alcohol required being at least 18 (at that time), but, as I've noted many times, those selling pot don't ask for IDs. The highly-regulated substance, alcohol, was nearly impossible to get, unless one at least looked to be old enough, but the completely unregulated (by virtue of being illegal!) substance(s) were extremely easy to access – a ten-year-old could easily acquire marijuana, if he or she had the cash. I think the same exact situation is in play, with vaping: in the UK, vaping is very well-regulated, accepted as part of smoking cessation, and for the most part, acceptable to society, but because of that rational and probably-strict regulation, it's probably much harder for a minor to get hold of vaping hardware and eliquid than in the US, where the "official" attitude to vaping is ignorant and mostly negative, and there is little-to-no regulation at all – even the ridiculous "deeming" of e-cigarettes as "tobacco products" is, at this point, more threat and intention than present reality. Which means that anyone in the US with an eye to profit could acquire and then sell to minors any vaping hardware or eliquid those minors desired – and the mere fact that minors aren't supposed to have those items is plenty of reason for those minors to go to great lengths to acquire them: vaping is the "forbidden fruit," and most teens love that! When you add all the "marketing to youth" that the FDA has been doing with the constant wild-eyed drivel about Juul, it's absolutely clear why there are so many more teens vaping in the US than in the UK – though still not at any level that might be described as "epidemic." Another factor may also have some bearing on all this. In the UK, where vaping is socially acceptable for smoking cessation, it's completely accepted that one factor which makes vaping superior to smoking is the huge variety of flavors available, or possible, for vaping. In the US, all these dimwits so up-in-arms about teen vaping can think of nothing better to do than "ban flavors" – because the tasty flavors "make vaping attractive to youth." They can't seem to wrap their minuscule minds around the fact that the many tasty flavors make vaping attractive to anybody – despite the many available tasty flavors of alcohol (which don't seem to be in any danger of being banned)! This deranged preoccupation with flavors makes it crystal clear that the Puritan mindset of many in the US is absolutely inferior to the laissez faire attitudes in the United Kingdom: prohibition doesn't work, has never worked, and creates crime – such as those profiteers of all-things-vape, mentioned above. Many vapers may have suspected that all the FDA's noise about a "youth vaping epidemic" was exactly that: noise, but had no real information to back up that suspicion. The data presented above make it very obvious: there simply is no "youth vaping epidemic," no matter how earnestly the FDA may wish for one, or even diligently attempt to create one. Finally, as promised above, let's look at some true statistics from the US, UK, and Australia. This diagram tells you all you really need to know about the value of vaping: Notice the vast difference in the decline of "regular" smoking in Australia? That country bans the use of nicotine in vaping – you can buy vape hardware, you can even buy eliquid, but if you want nicotine, you have to import it, and there are some rather stringent rules about that importation – so not nearly as many people have been able to make a complete transition from smoking to vaping. And while nicotine is not truly addictive, it can definitely smoothe out some of the rough spots, for those in early-cessation. I suspect that a flavor ban, in the US, might have a similar if not even more drastic effect on the efficacy of vaping for smoking cessation, since most adult vapers do vape something that tastes better than stinkweed.
This is exactly the reason that so many in the US wish to totally destroy vaping: vaping really does assist smoking cessation, better than anything that has come before. To many, human lives and health matter far less than money; if vaping is destroyed, all those who have invested in the disease and death of smoking, whether Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, or the Tobacco Control Cartel, can continue making obscene profits. To know where the most grotesque and diseased corruption lies... just look at who's opposed to vaping. There is no "youth vaping epidemic" – just some dishonest, desperate bureaucrats terrified that their gravy train is coming to an end, and their corruption exposed. |
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