Lindsey Stroud

Aug 31 • 15 tweets • 6 min read

1/Another day, another 🧵.
This time at the @FDATobacco & this spiffy video series that seems to be made using Bloomberg's PR firm...
We'll start with teen use. Get ready for a wild ride that will make you angry, but it ain't even the worst.

2/"E-cigarette use among young people has increased.”
Shame on the FDA seriously. This is what the 2021 NYTS found. The FDA should be informing the public of this – not using old data to hype up alarmism.

4/"Most e-cigarettes contain the addictive chemical nicotine and can also contain other harmful chemicals.”

5/"And studies show that teens who vape are more likely to start smoking cigarettes.”
Again, as pointed out yesterday, where the hell are these young adult smokers?!? Seriously? The CDC can’t seem to locate them…

6/"Some teens have said that they try vaping because of the flavors.”
Now this is just misleading. And we’ve got TONS of state and national survey data indicating OTHER reasons for trying e-cigarettes and even using e-cigarettes.

7/Example: 2021 NYTS data

8/Oh & look at all this state data. Apparently no one at the FDA can spend time going through survey data…

9/"Studies show that people whose first tobacco product is flavored are more likely to continue to use the flavored tobacco product and become regular users.”
Sure, let’s go over the data that I actually got from Brian King and the CDC.

10/Using data from 2011 and 2015 and smoking rates doesn’t indicate that there is an increase in menthol sales and smoking. In fact, if anything, lower menthol rates correlate w/higher rates of adult and young adult smoking.

11/And this holds the same for youth combustible cigarette use rates.

12/Even increased flavored cigar sales don’t lead to massive increases in youth cigar use, and in fact, like menthol, lower flavored sales correlate with higher rates of use.

13/Moving on, because of a [fake] increase in smoking rates, “…the FDA has taken actions against companies that make and distribute flavored e-cigarette products that appeal to kids.” (While eliminating #tobaccoharmreduction options for adults who smoke)

14/14/More blatant lies – “other research shows that teens who vape regularly may get addicted to nicotine fast than if they were to smoke.” How did all these kiddos quit in the past few years?

15/And back to the one point – where the hell are all these combustible cigarette users at?

16/“The FDA and other health agencies are sharing facts about the dangers of vaping.”
Correction, you’re stoking alarmism and sharing cherry-picked data as youth vaping (and smoking) continues to decline. Thanks for using tobacco user fees to spread misinformation.

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