When propaganda tries to shut down e-cigarettes

Introduction

The media jumped on the information and made headlines : the e-cigarette kills ! So many were waiting for this to finally be proven...
Ladies and gentlemen, we regret to inform you that once again these headlines are the result of a terrible propaganda. We're being manipulated !

Presentation

After people suffering from the explosion of their e-cigarette (Editor's note: explosions linked to misuse of the equipment and not directly to the e-cig, but that’s not the subject), now a mysterious and alarming lung disease suddenly makes its appearance... and four days later, the disease is now deadly !

Many journalists have taken this information as a gift to make the buzz. The headlines are scary ! What are we doing to our lungs ? Vaping friends, be afraid ! Actually, no, you can relax. If you look past the titles and read the articles, you’ll realise it’s actually not that bad. But you have to take the time to read the article and not just the title.

On August 20, 2019, an article was written in TrustMyScience announcing the appearance of this famous lung disease linked to vaping. The same article found that patients had vaped "various substances, including marijuana products and homemade compositions" and that "officials indicated, they didn’t know the names or types of products used."

On August 24, the newspaper, 20 Minutes, made the buzz with its headline : Died "from a serious illness, after vaping". The same article reveals that "the cause of the disease has not been discovered, but all patients had recently used e-cigarettes to inhale nicotine and often cannabis."

Let's take a step back... in other words, about 200 people experienced symptoms in the past 3 months, such as coughing, shortness of breath, exhaustion and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea.

All these people suddenly developed an unknown and very alarming disease, attributed to vaping by the American health authorities, even though "the link with vaping has not been proven. Although the cases appear to be similar, it’s not known whether they have the same cause, or whether they’re from different diseases that present themselves in the same way," according to Ileana Arias, head of infectious diseases at the federal CDC.

In short, we draw hasty conclusions about a disease (or several ?) from which we know absolutely nothing ! Are these symptoms related to vaping, or have those people used other substances and doctors have not made a link yet or they’ve simply not been informed about ? If these symptoms are due to vaping, what substances have these people put in their vape ?

For example : no one will tell you alcohol is healthy, but a drink from time to time is nice and it doesn't hurt. But drink adulterated alcohol once and see the consequences – during the little time you have left ! Should we then generalize the information and say that a single glass of alcohol could kill you ?

It’s a bit too easy to send alarmist messages when they have absolutely no solid base.

Maybe we should ask ourselves why for the past 10 years since the beginning of e-cigarettes, have such diseases never manifested themselves and why nearly 200 people have developed these same symptoms in the last 3 months and only in the USA !

Let's put it back in context...

E-cigarettes have had many critics from the beginning, but it’s the case with any innovation after all.

It bothers... could e-cigarettes be an effective means of smoking cessation ? Could it be a lot less harmful than traditional cigarettes ?

What a shortfall for some ! Imagine if pharmaceuticals lose the exclusivity on nicotine substitutes and other products (such as Champix for example) or worse, people no longer suffer from smoking-related diseases (when you know that one in two smokers dies from smoking). This phenomenon had already been reported in 2016 by news sites, quoting among other things statements by Bloomberg.

Cigarettes have always been a lucrative business.
Anything and everything is a good tactic as long as it attracts more and more consumers. Today, many tobacco prevention campaigns are still pure manipulation. You might see a prevention campaign ? But what the target audience unconsciously sees it as an incentive to start smoking.
Obviously anything that could prevent people from starting to smoke or that could help them to quit should be shut down as soon as possible ! There’s too much money at stake ! And don’t get us started on anti-smoking associations, activists and co.

Another element is the arrival of Juul products. These products made the buzz in the United States upon their release and unfortunately many young people decided to make it fashionable before the authorities even had time to react. For the past few months, these products are sold in Europe under very strict restrictions from the brand, systematically controlling the age of the buyer, who must be of age. The reason we are talking about this is because there’s a huge fear that young people will start vaping and therefore the quota of people addicted to nicotine increases.

But let's remember the following facts :

1. There’s no proof that vaping will lead to smoking traditional cigarettes.
2. In France the numbers show that if we add up vapers and smokers in high schools, the numbers are down compared to previous years taking in consideration only smokers.
3. Nicotine’s huge problem is that it’s addictive. But it’s not harmful on its own.

It should also be noted that this year's WHO report did not work in favour of e-cigarettes. Indeed, on a 4-page report, the only thing the press communicated is that "e-cigarettes are unquestionably harmful."
We’d like to invite you to watch this little 6-minute video on Youtube, which cleverly explains how we’re being manipulated.

So what should we think of all this ?

The authorities are reacting quickly and violently in various countries in an attempt to stem the development of vaping. Could they have reached the end of their arguments ?

Even as we’re writing this article, various elements are coming in response to the current controversy. What’s emerging from it ? The National Review responded by informing that the conclusions were hasty. Indeed, it turns out that in the majority of cases identified, individuals were vaping liquids containing THC (the main component of cannabis, psychotropic, not to be confused with CDB). These illegal liquids are purchased on the street without follow-up, traceability or verification, and may potentially contain polluants or other drugs. Some of the patients admitted to vaping THC oils ! The symptoms could actually be attributed to vaping oils... because as we know it, you should NEVER vape oil ! This is strictly forbidden and indicated by any serious brand of vaping products.

Rather than informing the public and warning them against THC oils, e-liquids containing oil or products purchased on the street that may be questionable, the authorities preferred to be alarmist and blame any form of vaping all together.

The question is : can the damage made be repaired ? With these headlines, people are afraid and remember only one thing : electronic cigarettes kill !

With this kind of communication, the US authorities have clearly positioned themselves irresponsibly and with potentially dangerous consequences in terms of public health. They’ve done a lot of damage to the fight against tobacco.

Conclusion

In the US, for the past 3 months, about 200 people have been identified with unexplained lung disease. The health authorities attributed it to vaping. A few days after virulent releases such as "e-cigarettes kill" or " outbreak of a mysterious disease linked to vaping", some journals report that in fact patients were vaping THC oils, even though it’s well known that vaping oils is very dangerous and toxic ! Basically, the inhaled products were from the black market and deemed harmful.

The vaping community is not giving up yet, we simply hope that the damages caused are not irreversible and that people will not be fooled by this manipulation attempt.

Dear readers, we can only recommend that you be careful in selecting your vaping equipment and products. Never hesitate to find out more about the products you buy, where they come from, their traceability, and health and safety certifications. Take the time to get professional advice. Stay alert, it’s like with everything, there’s good and bad products. Reliable and unreliable.

Thank you for reading, and let's not give into the panic of alarmist information.

The Sweetch Team