FDA Is Not Magic
The Food and Drug Administration launches a new part of its “The Real Cost” youth e-cigarette prevention campaign with a British magician
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by Dave Cross
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“Some people think that vaping is no big deal, but that is just an illusion,” says Dein, at the opening of both videos. Vapers and tobacco harm reduction advocates will be amazed that he then transforms a pod device into cigarettes – drawing a clear link, and stating that “if you vape, you’re more likely to start smoking cigarettes. It’s not magic - it’s statistics.”
Who is Dein?
The 25-yr old Brit is a magician and one of the current swathe of “pranksters” on YouTube. His talent extends to attacking his sleeping girlfriend with a fire extinguisher, smashing eggs on her head, tipping ice over her – and emptying a bowl of chicken hearts over her face. During a series of pranks on London Underground, Dein pretended to steal passenger’s bags – but it ended when a stranger belted him.
“The Real Cost” youth e-cigarette prevention campaign began with ridiculous hyperbole and “vapeworm” advertising in school toilets [link], redolent of the 1930’s Reefer Madness film.
Many hoped that the new acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless would bring a dose of common sense to the office. These hopes have been dashed as he said: “The troubling epidemic of youth vaping threatens to erase the years of progress we’ve made combatting tobacco use among kids, and it’s imperative that our work to tackle this immensely concerning trend continue to include efforts to educate our nation’s youth about the dangers of these products.”
Sharpless continued: “As our new ads state: ‘it’s not magic, it’s statistics,’ and the potential for kids to become traditional cigarette smokers because of e-cigarettes gives me great pause.”
“We cannot allow the next generation of young people to become addicted to nicotine. We will continue to work to keep e-cigarettes out of the hands of America’s kids through policies to limit youth access to, and appeal of, e-cigarette products, take vigorous compliance and enforcement actions to hold manufacturers and retailers accountable when they illegally market or sell these products to minors, and continue to spearhead highly successful public education efforts to warn youth about the dangers of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.”
It is clear from Sharpless’ comments that America faces a continuance of the onslaught on tobacco harm reduction, and that the FDA will continue to focus on fear and lies when it comes to vaping.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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