Sean C. Morgan
I started by writing a philosophical piece about why it’s wrong to tax tobacco, alcohol and marijuana – or anything else in the marketplace for that matter.
Sales taxes are regressive and disproportionately affect the poor, and sin taxes fly in the face of our nations core values, outlined in the Declaration of Independence.
But more importantly, since our society appears to have rejected the notions of our forefathers, we need to consider the illogical, irrational equation of vaping to smoking cigarettes that is inherent in the proposed Measure 108 tax on cigarettes and vaping products.
Vaping saves lives.
Contrary to myths concocted last year with the aid of government agencies and much of the media, nicotine vaping products killed literally no one. A total of 68 people died, and in nearly every case, they died from vaping marijuana vaping cartridges purchased in the black market. Two died in Oregon from cartridges sold in legal marijuana outlets.
One survivor from Texas said he bought his from a legal outlet in California.
Most of those cartridges contained vitamin E acetate, an oil no one in the nicotine vaping industry would ever use in its vaping liquids. It was a mistake in manufacturing, and it’s obviously been corrected. You’ll notice that no one has died from so-called vaping-related lung illness since last fall.
You might not have noticed that the media stopped reporting on it about the same time – and no one is bothering to report zero deaths with the same fervor the media, government agencies and anti-vaping activists were reporting deaths from THC cartridges and conflating nicotine products with THC.
To me it appears they believe that anything and everything they can do to end nicotine vaping is fair. The ends justify literal lies.
The truth is, vaping helps smokers stop smoking, and it leaves holes in budgets because former smokers are no longer paying the tax. Anti-tobacco activists and bureaucrats should be ecstatic, but it’s hard to be when funding dries up.
So, they want to tax it, just like cigarettes; and along comes Measure 108 asking you to treat vaping like deadly cigarettes. According to the government, smoking kills more than 400,000 Americans every year.
Vaping nicotine has been linked to exactly zero deaths.
Rather, it has been linked to higher rates of quitting cigarettes.
I am among those who have quit, and the vast majority of smokers in my social circles have quit by vaping. Some of them have quit nicotine completely.
Remember, nicotine is not the primary concern about cigarettes, and even with vaping, it is not the primary concern we have about potential health consequences, something many vapers like me pay close attention to. The main concern with smoking is about the carcinogens and other toxins created by burning plant material.
The Royal College of Physicians, the British version of the American Medical Association, has estimated vaping to be 95 percent safer than cigarettes. More recently, a representative said that figure is closer to 98 percent.
I can say personally that I experienced all of the benefits of quitting cigarettes more than 10 years ago.
Around my old office, they’ll tell you how my smoker’s cough almost instantly ended when I quit smoking cigarettes. My lungs no longer rattled all day and night. I had more energy in the morning.
Thanks to vaping, I have completely beaten a cigarette habit I never actually tried to give up. As is my right as an American, I recognize a smaller risk and continue to vape.
But it is not and should not be conflated with smoking cigarettes – or black-market THC cartridges.
People are quitting cigarettes, vastly reducing the potential harm.
Rather than giving us Measure 108, the politicians, bureaucrats and activists should promote vaping as a harm-reduction alternative, the same way the British National Health Service does, literally selling vaping supplies in hospitals.
Like Sweden and Snus before it, vaping will lead to reductions in tobacco-related deaths, in apparent contradiction to the hopes and dreams of the anti-vaping (hence pro-smoking) politicians, bureaucrats and activists.
But the children! Yeah, the children. They started vaping the Juul because it carries an extremely high level of nicotine not because of flavorings.
Vaping was around before the Juul, and except for a brief uptick around 2013 when cloud chasing was a thing, youth use of vaping devices didn’t rise until 2015, with the advent of the Juul. That’s a different issue we can address through different means.
That said, remember that smoking rates among youths have fallen more dramatically than ever since the introduction of vaping.
Regardless, we have laws on the books against youth use of cigarettes, vaping products, alcohol and marijuana. Our tool is already in place to fight youth use of all of these. Please note that marijuana and alcohol usage are much higher among youths than vaping.
Vaping is a modern miracle of technology that is saving lives. Imagine what might have been if your late relatives who smoked had access to vaping products earlier in their lives. Vote no on Measure 108 and promote the use of vaping by adult smokers as a cessation tool.
– Sean Morgan is a former longtime reporter for The New Era, the staff of which witnessed his success in giving up a chain smoking habit.