Balanced tobacco policy will save lives
By Marilyn Hemingway
Over the past few months, the legislature passed and the governor signed an important law that will keep our children safe while at the same time helping adult smokers kick the habit. In the process, we all learned an important fact that could have a significant impact on public health. All vapes are not created equal.
As a result of the federal government’s failure to sufficiently enforce the vape market, a flood of illegal products manufactured in China, and marketed in candy flavors to target our children, have made their way into our state. There have been so many illegal products shipped into our communities that law enforcement and retailers are struggling to separate the legal from the illegal. Thanks to smart new policy, a directory of legal products will be published that empowers stakeholders with the information they need to tell the difference.
S. 994, supported by a strong, bi-partisan group of S.C. Senators led by Senate President Thomas Alexander and Minority Leader Brad Hutto was unanimously passed by the Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee on February 7 and is now with the S.C. House Judiciary committee chaired by Weston J Newton, District 120, Beaufort. We encourage constituents to call for the S.C. House to join the S.C. Senate to pass this bill. It is imperative that through smart policy we provide the tools, such as a directory of legal products to law enforcement and community stakeholders.
Increasing education and information in the vaping market is critical in order to reduce harm for smokers. The first thing that people need to understand is that nicotine is not the primary cause of health problems in tobacco products. Nicotine is naturally derived from the tobacco leaf and humans have been using it for thousands of years. While there’s no question that nicotine is an addictive stimulant found in tobacco, nicotine alone is not the real threat.
When it comes to cigarettes specifically, it’s the process of combustion, or burning the tobacco and paper, that creates harmful toxins. If you’re not burning and inhaling the smoke, you dramatically reduce health risk.
The second most important thing to realize is that vapes are actually more effective than other therapies in helping smokers quit. Kicking the cigarette habit is a notoriously hard thing for a smoker to do and many will try several times without success. Smokers use nicotine replacement gums and patches to help wean themselves off cigarettes, but credible research shows vaping is more effective as a cessation tool. Yet while you will find gums and patches on the shelves at your local pharmacy, most would refuse to carry any vapes.
The big question we need to ask is why policymakers and healthcare advocates continue to villainize vapes when the prevailing scientists and researchers show how important these products can be in support of public health? If established research shows that helping smokers move from cigarettes to vapes could reduce the incidence of lung cancer and heart disease in America, why do the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association routinely support policies to ban vapes?
The primary issue that has shaped flawed policy governing the sale of nicotine vapes is youth prevention. Protecting vulnerable children and keeping adult products out of their hands is important and we all should support that critical mission. That’s why vapes, like all tobacco products, are illegal for sale to anyone under the age of 21. These youth prevention policies, along with educational programs, have been successful in driving youth smoking rates to the lowest levels in history. But when you see that a product is illegal for purchase by underage consumers and they are still obtaining that product, it becomes clear that the failure is enforcement of the policy.
America has the potential to be a global leader in helping smokers transition away from cigarettes to less harmful alternatives, but change must start at the top. The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products has failed in its efforts to regulate a functioning marketplace that provides alternatives to adult smokers while protecting youth. The FDA’s glacial, byzantine approval process has authorized only 23 products for sale of the millions that have applied for authorization. Meanwhile, federal enforcement failures have contributed to a flood of illegal disposable vapes from China
that have ironically become the most popular choice among teenagers.
It’s time for the United States to recognize what leading scientists and innovative public health experts already know. Moving smokers away from cigarettes to less harmful options like vapes will save millions of lives.
Marilyn Hemingway is the CEO and Founding President of the Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce.
