RESEARCH BLOG #9: ARGUMENT AND COUNTER-ARGUMENT

       The vaping industry continuously promotes that e-cigarettes are less dangerous than regular cigarettes.  They believe that e-cigarettes can be good for those already hooked on traditional cigarettes as they can be seen as a “better” alternative. From their eyes, vaping can lead to a transition of less dangerous products as traditional cigarettes lead to various life-threatening diseases. Because of this Big Tobacco companies, such as Altria, are investing in vaping industries, such as JUUL Labs. This is because, “New research indicates that tobacco companies are investing into emerging products like e-cigarettes as a way to slow declines in tobacco use”(BIG TOBACCO AND JUUL - American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation ). Tobacco usage in America especially has become a huge problem, so any effort to replace or decrease tobacco use should be good right?  A spokesperson for the JUUL company admitted that their vaping products are meant to mimic the nicotine effect of a traditional cigarette in order to satisfy the cravings of adult smokers. They also had noted that research shows that nicotine is absorbed more slowly from JUUL pods compared to traditional cigarettes(“Juul Wanted to Revolutionize Vaping. It Took a Page from Big Tobacco's Chemical Formulas”). So, maybe the investment in JUUL can be seen as a beneficial step towards society moving forward from traditional cigarettes. The stigma of being a “smoker” is possibly less noted or even washed away if an individual decides to vape. In 2018, the largest tobacco company in the United States, Altria, purchased a 35% stake in JUUL. Altria is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, which makes Marlboro cigarettes. Shortly after this purchase, a few tobacco company employees started also working at JUUL. (Juul Wanted to Revolutionize Vaping. It Took a Page from Big Tobacco's Chemical Formulas”). Could it be that the more investment in the vaping industry could lead to further advances such as the decrease of lung and heart disease, which can be caused by traditional cigarettes? This possibility for a possible decrease in traditional cigarettes is a move that can easily prevent some of the leading cases of death in the United States. 

With all that said about Big Tobacco’s role in the vaping industry, this move can be seen as something beneficial to the overall public. However, the problem with Big Tobacco’s investment is that this may also lead to an increase in youth e-cigarette users. An individual might be getting less cancer-causing chemicals if they vape, since most smokers die from lung and heart diseases which originate from traditional cigarettes. Nevertheless, there are still lung illnesses associated with constant e-cigarette use which can dramatically affect a child’s life especially if they are starting at a young age. The vaping industry is targeting the youth since they offer a wide variety of flavors which can make the nicotine more palatable. The scary part of this epidemic is that parents are unaware of their child vaping since there is usually no associated smell with e-cigarettes(VAPE Documentary). It is unfortunate that the younger the individual is, the more primed they are for addiction. This epidemic is becoming so serious that some politicians and scientists even believe, “… that tobacco companies are cynically promoting e-cigarettes as a means to get people addicted to nicotine, which will – sooner or later – lead them to cigarettes”(Boseley ). It is ironic because initially e-cigarettes were thought to be created to stop adults from smoking traditional cigarettes, however, is it a possibility that these products could lead them back to the initial problem? Could Big Tobacco’s involvement have an intention to have individuals addicted to e-cigarettes as a way for people to keep purchasing these new products that have become trendy among the youth? Big Tobacco’s investment in vaping industries could have been seen as a step toward actual change for the health of the community, however, it might actually be adding on to the overall issue of youth vaping.