Experts fear that vaping ban will increase cigarette salesSeptember 27, 2019 - 14:32 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Facing an explosion of vaping-related illnesses — linked to 805 cases and 12 deaths as of Thursday, September 26 — state officials from coast to coast are banning e-cigarette sales and telling people to stop vaping. “We are seeing something that we have not seen before,” Charity Dean, acting public health officer of California, said this week in a statewide warning to refrain from vaping altogether, BuzzFeed News reports. But critics fear these actions are overreaching. They worry that authorities are failing to distinguish between nicotine e-cigarettes like Juul and vaping devices containing THC, the ingredient responsible for the high from cannabis. That difference matters, they say, because even though some studies have questioned the safety of vaping nicotine, it’s the latter that has been linked to most of the recent illnesses and deaths. “There’s a risk in conflating these twin tragedies,” former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb warned in one of several tweets Wednesday. “They each require a very careful and deliberate approach if we’re going to stem these two crises.” And yanking nicotine e-cigarettes off the market could have health consequences of its own. Ex-smokers who used them to quit may return to tobacco, which smoking experts fear would threaten a decade of progress in reducing smoking rates. Kids now addicted to nicotine because of vaping might turn to cigarettes. Cigarettes are linked to more than 480,000 US deaths yearly; by some estimates, 6.6 million premature deaths could be avoided over the next decade if smokers converted to e-cigarettes. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Macron says France commemorates 109th anniv. of Armenian genocide Today France commemorates the 109th anniversary of the Armenian genocide of 1915, Macron says. Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment. |