Update: Vice President Kamala Harris is now the Democratic presidential nominee
- Thread starter DC_Dude
- Start date
Yawn...
You are scum get out of my sight. If you can't deal with being exposed don't be a pest to me. I find you repulsive and want to vomit.
You are scum get out of my sight. If you can't deal with being exposed don't be a pest to me. I find you repulsive and want to vomit.
Please get help and I mean that as a healthcare professional! You're the most random, nonsensical, and consistent at both poster I've seen on the board for years!
Why didn't he have someone scrub his online information? There are plenty of companies out there that will do this for anyone
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She is a singer apparently (never heard of her).
“No, I’m Not Voting For Trump”: Chappell Roan Just Clarified Her Controversial Election Comments
“I'm sorry that you fell for the clickbait.”
Because he’s a dumb ass. That’s why we can believe he’s a member here. Because we’ve seen that behavior here
Medical Examiner
Sept 24, 20245:06 PM
Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images and Getty Images Plus.
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There are few sentences I am more loath to speak than “Donald Trump is right.” And yet, this past Friday afternoon, I reluctantly had to acknowledge that Trump was at least somewhat on the correct side of one of my pet issues. “I saved Flavored Vaping in 2019, and it greatly helped people get off smoking,” he posted on Truth Social. “I raised the age to 21, keeping it away from the ‘kids.’ Kamala and Joe want everything banned, killing small businesses all over the Country. I’ll save Vaping again!”
To paraphrase a famous Dril tweet, you do not, under any circumstances, gotta hand it to Donald Trump. I doubt that he could string together a sensible paragraph on the benefits of tobacco harm reduction, much less capitalize it coherently. His relationship to vaping is purely transactional. At the height of the youth vaping panic in 2019, pro-vaping interest groups persuaded his administration that a comprehensive ban on flavored electronic cigarettes (which was pushed by some public health advocates) would potentially alienate voters in key swing states for the 2020 election. Trump opted instead for a ban targeting only flavored cartridge–style e-cigarettes, typified by Juul, hoping this compromise would be politically safer. The policy allowed vape shops to sell other flavored e-liquids for refillable tank systems; it also left the door open for disposable vapes, which have since exploded in popularity.
00:00
03:12
Thankfully, courting the “We Vape, We Vote” movement was insufficient to return Trump to the White House. Vapers are a relatively small demographic—estimates vary, but it’s probably around 15 million Americans—and restrictions on nicotine and tobacco use are broadly popular. It may be the case, however, that among adults who vape, the threat of e-cigarette bans is highly motivating, and that even a few thousand votes in the right places could end up mattering to an extraordinary degree. That was the theory that swayed Trump in 2019, and it’s likely his motivation for appealing to vapers now. The fact that Trump is suddenly paying attention to the niche issue of flavored e-cigs is a sign that the campaign is desperate for any potential wedge against Harris.
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Still, Democrats should take the concerns and needs of vapers more seriously. On the merits, Democrats have been getting tobacco harm reduction consistently wrong for years, calling for bans on lower-risk nicotine products that are helping drive rates of smoking to historic lows. Taking a less prohibitionist stance toward reduced-risk nicotine products would be both a smarter approach to public health policy and consistent with Democrats’ recent efforts to brand themselves as the party of personal freedom.
The polarized responses to youth vaping in 2019 are illustrative. This was the peak of the moral panic, driven by escalating rates of teen use and a frightening outbreak of sometimes-fatal lung illnesses, although the latter was eventually linked to adulterated cannabis products. Many Democratic (and some Republican) leaders responded with calls for prohibition of flavored vapes, including Tim Walz, then the governor of Minnesota and now the party’s vice presidential nominee. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan went even further, imposing an emergency ban that in an early draft threatened up to six months in jail for anyone found in possession of four or more flavored e-cigarettes.
In hindsight, all of this was a clear overreaction. Youth vaping rates have plummeted, despite the Trump administration’s decision not to ban all flavored e-cigarettes. In 2019, the National Youth Tobacco Survey found that more than a quarter (27.5 percent) of American high school students had vaped at least once in the past 30 days. In 2024, that figure has fallen to 7.8 percent, a 70 percent decline in just five years. Experts have warned that legitimate concerns about teens getting hooked on vaping have overshadowed the benefits of making a safer alternative to smoking available for adults—so this trend is extremely encouraging. Youth smoking rates have also fallen to historic lows, with less than 2 percent of high school students reporting past-30-day use in 2023 (the most recent data available).
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This sustained decline in youth vaping is likely due to many factors, including raised awareness from parents and teachers, increased misperception of vaping as acutely dangerous (versus potentially contributing to long-term health risks), the shift to remote schooling during COVID, the removal of popular flavored Juul products (which predated the federal ban on flavored cartridge products for vapes), and the federal law raising the age to purchase tobacco to 21. The flavored cartridge ban, Trump’s compromise versus banning all flavored e-cigs, likely played a role too, though it’s worth noting that such devices have largely been replaced by a flood of mostly illicit disposable e-cigarettes—a reminder that prohibition is often difficult to enforce.
Among the unintended consequences of flavor bans of any degree is a potential increase in smoking. Various states and localities have implemented policies against flavored e-cigarettes that are more stringent than federal rules. A recent working paper analyzed the effect of these policies, finding that they did lead to declining sales of e-cigs. Unfortunately, these were largely replaced by sales of much more dangerous combustible—i.e., regular—cigarettes. “Thus,” the authors conclude, “any public health benefits of reducing ENDS [electronic nicotine delivery systems] sales via flavor restrictions may be offset by public health costs from increased cigarette sales.”
Advertisement
The other obvious consequence of flavor bans is the rise of illicit markets. This is most clearly demonstrated by Massachusetts, which enacted a comprehensive flavor ban in 2019. State law enforcement agencies have since reported a massive increase in seizures of menthol cigarettes and flavored vapes, as well as arrests and prosecutions of sellers. Under Democratic attorney general and now Gov. Maura Healey, the state will likely become the first to sentence sellers of illicit flavored vapes to prison on charges of felony tax evasion.
Democrats have gradually come around on the perils of prohibiting another kind of “vice”: cannabis. The Harris-Walz ticket is the first in major party history to support federal legalization. Yet when reporters have asked the campaign to respond to Trump’s stance on flavored e-cigarettes, the campaign has declined to comment.
It shouldn’t be a difficult question. A political party that claims to value science, freedom, and bodily autonomy should have no hesitation defending adults’ right to buy a flavored vape. And although many commentators have dismissed Trump’s appeal to vapers as a trivial matter, it’s of genuine importance to anyone impacted by tobacco smoking. More than 400,000 Americans die from smoking every year, and a widespread transition to lower-risk products could prevent millions of premature deaths before the end of the century. Few areas of seemingly niche public policy can boast such a vital impact.
The next president will inherit a mess on vaping policy. The Food and Drug Administration has authorized only a handful of vaping products, none of them in flavors other than tobacco or menthol, meaning that the vast majority of e-cigarettes are sold in various shades of illegality. The agency will have to choose whether to formally authorize some of these products, to allow the current gray market to continue, or to attempt a broader crackdown. The next president’s priorities can directly or indirectly influence which approach the FDA decides to take.
What Trump Gets Right About a Key Harm Reduction Tool
He went on a Truth Social rant about how he saved vaping. Democrats should be taking note.
By Jacob GrierSept 24, 20245:06 PM
Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images and Getty Images Plus.
TweetShareComment
There are few sentences I am more loath to speak than “Donald Trump is right.” And yet, this past Friday afternoon, I reluctantly had to acknowledge that Trump was at least somewhat on the correct side of one of my pet issues. “I saved Flavored Vaping in 2019, and it greatly helped people get off smoking,” he posted on Truth Social. “I raised the age to 21, keeping it away from the ‘kids.’ Kamala and Joe want everything banned, killing small businesses all over the Country. I’ll save Vaping again!”
To paraphrase a famous Dril tweet, you do not, under any circumstances, gotta hand it to Donald Trump. I doubt that he could string together a sensible paragraph on the benefits of tobacco harm reduction, much less capitalize it coherently. His relationship to vaping is purely transactional. At the height of the youth vaping panic in 2019, pro-vaping interest groups persuaded his administration that a comprehensive ban on flavored electronic cigarettes (which was pushed by some public health advocates) would potentially alienate voters in key swing states for the 2020 election. Trump opted instead for a ban targeting only flavored cartridge–style e-cigarettes, typified by Juul, hoping this compromise would be politically safer. The policy allowed vape shops to sell other flavored e-liquids for refillable tank systems; it also left the door open for disposable vapes, which have since exploded in popularity.
00:00
03:12
Thankfully, courting the “We Vape, We Vote” movement was insufficient to return Trump to the White House. Vapers are a relatively small demographic—estimates vary, but it’s probably around 15 million Americans—and restrictions on nicotine and tobacco use are broadly popular. It may be the case, however, that among adults who vape, the threat of e-cigarette bans is highly motivating, and that even a few thousand votes in the right places could end up mattering to an extraordinary degree. That was the theory that swayed Trump in 2019, and it’s likely his motivation for appealing to vapers now. The fact that Trump is suddenly paying attention to the niche issue of flavored e-cigs is a sign that the campaign is desperate for any potential wedge against Harris.
Advertisement
Still, Democrats should take the concerns and needs of vapers more seriously. On the merits, Democrats have been getting tobacco harm reduction consistently wrong for years, calling for bans on lower-risk nicotine products that are helping drive rates of smoking to historic lows. Taking a less prohibitionist stance toward reduced-risk nicotine products would be both a smarter approach to public health policy and consistent with Democrats’ recent efforts to brand themselves as the party of personal freedom.
The polarized responses to youth vaping in 2019 are illustrative. This was the peak of the moral panic, driven by escalating rates of teen use and a frightening outbreak of sometimes-fatal lung illnesses, although the latter was eventually linked to adulterated cannabis products. Many Democratic (and some Republican) leaders responded with calls for prohibition of flavored vapes, including Tim Walz, then the governor of Minnesota and now the party’s vice presidential nominee. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan went even further, imposing an emergency ban that in an early draft threatened up to six months in jail for anyone found in possession of four or more flavored e-cigarettes.
In hindsight, all of this was a clear overreaction. Youth vaping rates have plummeted, despite the Trump administration’s decision not to ban all flavored e-cigarettes. In 2019, the National Youth Tobacco Survey found that more than a quarter (27.5 percent) of American high school students had vaped at least once in the past 30 days. In 2024, that figure has fallen to 7.8 percent, a 70 percent decline in just five years. Experts have warned that legitimate concerns about teens getting hooked on vaping have overshadowed the benefits of making a safer alternative to smoking available for adults—so this trend is extremely encouraging. Youth smoking rates have also fallen to historic lows, with less than 2 percent of high school students reporting past-30-day use in 2023 (the most recent data available).
Advertisement
This sustained decline in youth vaping is likely due to many factors, including raised awareness from parents and teachers, increased misperception of vaping as acutely dangerous (versus potentially contributing to long-term health risks), the shift to remote schooling during COVID, the removal of popular flavored Juul products (which predated the federal ban on flavored cartridge products for vapes), and the federal law raising the age to purchase tobacco to 21. The flavored cartridge ban, Trump’s compromise versus banning all flavored e-cigs, likely played a role too, though it’s worth noting that such devices have largely been replaced by a flood of mostly illicit disposable e-cigarettes—a reminder that prohibition is often difficult to enforce.
Among the unintended consequences of flavor bans of any degree is a potential increase in smoking. Various states and localities have implemented policies against flavored e-cigarettes that are more stringent than federal rules. A recent working paper analyzed the effect of these policies, finding that they did lead to declining sales of e-cigs. Unfortunately, these were largely replaced by sales of much more dangerous combustible—i.e., regular—cigarettes. “Thus,” the authors conclude, “any public health benefits of reducing ENDS [electronic nicotine delivery systems] sales via flavor restrictions may be offset by public health costs from increased cigarette sales.”
Advertisement
The other obvious consequence of flavor bans is the rise of illicit markets. This is most clearly demonstrated by Massachusetts, which enacted a comprehensive flavor ban in 2019. State law enforcement agencies have since reported a massive increase in seizures of menthol cigarettes and flavored vapes, as well as arrests and prosecutions of sellers. Under Democratic attorney general and now Gov. Maura Healey, the state will likely become the first to sentence sellers of illicit flavored vapes to prison on charges of felony tax evasion.
Democrats have gradually come around on the perils of prohibiting another kind of “vice”: cannabis. The Harris-Walz ticket is the first in major party history to support federal legalization. Yet when reporters have asked the campaign to respond to Trump’s stance on flavored e-cigarettes, the campaign has declined to comment.
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Read MoreIt shouldn’t be a difficult question. A political party that claims to value science, freedom, and bodily autonomy should have no hesitation defending adults’ right to buy a flavored vape. And although many commentators have dismissed Trump’s appeal to vapers as a trivial matter, it’s of genuine importance to anyone impacted by tobacco smoking. More than 400,000 Americans die from smoking every year, and a widespread transition to lower-risk products could prevent millions of premature deaths before the end of the century. Few areas of seemingly niche public policy can boast such a vital impact.
The next president will inherit a mess on vaping policy. The Food and Drug Administration has authorized only a handful of vaping products, none of them in flavors other than tobacco or menthol, meaning that the vast majority of e-cigarettes are sold in various shades of illegality. The agency will have to choose whether to formally authorize some of these products, to allow the current gray market to continue, or to attempt a broader crackdown. The next president’s priorities can directly or indirectly influence which approach the FDA decides to take.
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If the #ADOS #dontvote #holdyourvote #notangiblesnovote #givetrumpapass crew really gave a damn about Marcelles Williams they would’ve focused on electing the right DAs, Attorney Generals, judges and a fucking Governor who actually gave a damn instead of bitching and moaning online that leads to absolutely nothing.
man fuck her, Manchin, and that bobble headed bitch Susan Collins.
Yeah getting with a group to invest in real estate is nice