The fake news trend has had a huge impact on the vaping community , but it's only recently that this misinformation has made its way into a major media outlet.
The Rebel, an independent media outlet that discusses fake news on social issues, reported that CNN had joined the war on vaping by spreading false information that cigarette use among students was on the rise. These sources have been widely criticized by independent researchers, scientists, and activists for their false reporting. They are now reporting that cigarette use among students has increased by 900 percent from 2011 to 2015. All of this information comes from Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, the Surgeon General of the United States.
Vivek H. Murthy
“These products are now the most frequently used form of tobacco among young people in the United States, surpassing all other types of tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and hookah,” Mr. Murthy said.
Not only was the original tweet Rebel used misinformed, CNN's reporting was also full of holes.
The CNN story, which ran in the Health section, was filled with scaremongering that scared people away from using e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool. With Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), saying that vape companies are using tobacco-like advertising to lure more young people, thereby debunking the argument that vaping leads to smoking, the article used all the usual scaremongering.
For example, the statistic that cigarette use has increased by 900 percent is wrong. Many vape juices do not contain nicotine , and those that do contain nicotine are synthetic nicotine and do not have the same harmful effects as the nicotine found in cigarettes. And the article also fails to mention whether a teen vapes whether the liquid they use contains nicotine or not, which calls into question the accuracy of the article and even the vaping rate data, such as how many teens are regular users, occasional users, or one-time users.
This absurdity is highlighted in the article itself, with the witness being Tyra Nicolay, a tobacco control advocate. She is described as a “former e-cigarette user” without explaining what kind of e-liquid she used, how much nicotine it contained, or how long she had been vaping. In fact, there is no information about Tyra beyond what the article deems necessary to emphasize its bias.
Another problem with the article is that the U.S. Surgeon General’s office created a website that disproves many of the recent studies that have shown e-cigarettes to be safer than smoking. It also continues to label vaping as tobacco because many, but not all, e-liquids continue to use the nicotine found in tobacco. It also fails to point out that nicotine is not the primary cause of tobacco users’ addiction.
Another thing that people don’t know when reading the CNN article or the article on the US Surgeon General’s website is that nicotine is also considered a “smart drug,” a group of chemicals that can improve people’s lives. In fact, the SmartDrugSmarts Podcast, a “smart drug” information platform, says: “Nicotine can increase focus and alertness, maintain concentration, and reduce memory loss. It can also control hunger and reduce pain. Researchers are even looking at nicotine’s therapeutic potential for use in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.”
The entire CNN article could be countered, point by point, but it has very little impact on the Surgeon General of the United States. Because there is a lot of public money behind anti-vaping groups, and much of it comes from Big Tobacco and Big Pharma. The trend of fake news attacking vaping will continue if people don’t question the accuracy of the arguments being presented by the mainstream media.
This article was published on Churnmag by Jimmy Hafrey and translated by The Vape Club
