Juuls were the most popular brand of e-cigarettes for both teenagers and adults until the Food and Drug Administration stepped in.
The FDA’s ban is being blocked by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but the administration is ramping up its war on nicotine and tobacco. Cigarettes are also targets of President Joe Biden’s FDA, with a proposed slash in nicotine levels. If the Biden administration gets its way, Juuls will be banned and you’ll have to smoke more cigarettes to get the same nicotine fix.
E-cigarettes may lead to the inhaling of trace metals that are vaporized in the metal coils, and the FDA is concerned about teenagers using Juul’s product.
However, Biden is supportive of non-nicotine alternatives. If you’re looking for a new way to get relief from high gas prices and a rising cost of living, you can find solace in an alternative to nicotine that utilizes a glass-based delivery system — that is, crack! Yes, crack pipes are available in “safe-smoking kits” subsidized by the Biden administration. They can be found at your local harm-reduction organization. Given that the federal government is subsidizing the distribution of crack pipes, perhaps you should consider trading your e-cigarette habit for hard drugs.
The latest push against Juuls and cigarettes is the latest example of backward thinking by the public health bureaucracy. To be sure, one small part of the decision is supported by empirical data. An Oregon State University study, backed by a National Institutes of Health grant, found that reduced-nicotine cigarettes resulted in milder withdrawal symptoms and made it easier for smokers to quit.
Perhaps the reduction of nicotine levels in cigarettes can be seen as a good-faith attempt to improve public health, even if it is likely to cause smokers to smoke more. But does that excuse the Juul ban? The FDA claims its decision is rooted in safety concerns, but it recently authorized 23 other e-cigarette products to be sold on the market. Vuse, a major competitor to Juul, received permission to sell three products. So if the goal was to reduce teenage vaping, the FDA doesn’t seem to be acting in a very consistent manner.
E-cigarettes, which anti-tobacco advocacy groups recognize as an important tool for quitting, should remain on the market if the FDA is truly serious about public health. Yet from destructive COVID-19 lockdowns to crack pipe distribution, government bureaucrats keep miscalculating in their public health policies.
