No Data On Teen E-Cigarette Use

Much of the justification for the ridiculous anti e-cigarette hysteria is the well being of ‘the children’. This is significant not only because using ‘the children’ as your primary argumentative linchpin is a clear sign of not having any cogent points to stand on but for a more practical reason–the Federal government doesn’t have a clue how many of ‘the children’ are using e-cigarettes.

More specifically, the Federal government doesn’t have a clue how many teenagers are using e-cigarettes. And you can forget about them knowing how many are going from e-cigarettes to tobacco cigarettes (the CDC also hilariously suggests that e-cigs might be a ‘gateway’ to marijuana usage, not that they have any data on that either). Ditto how many teens have switched from tobacco cigarettes to e-cigarettes and how many of these did so in an effort to quit smoking.

These revelations are from a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on risky behavior by teenagers. There’s a good reason why there is no data on e-cigarette usage–the CDC didn’t bother to ask despite being one of the most outspoken critics of the industry. Not that there’s any need for the regulators and scolds to have any facts before they act. Their need to control citizens, hold on to power and keep the revenue streams flowing is enough.

Of course just being mentioned in the study is a form of vilification. Once you get past the obvious–fighting, weapon use, gang violence–‘risky behavior’ is in the eye of the beholder. The questions they ask are ask are a good way to understand the agenda of the Federal government to marginalize behaviors that threaten their financial benefactors and the status quo. Not only are e-cigarettes mentioned as a ‘risky behavior’ (not that the CDC considered it risky enough to ask about it) but so is excessive text messaging and computer usage. That fits perfectly with the Federal government’s ‘bait and switch’ on the future of technological change. Technology is good, but only inasmuch as it doesn’t threaten the status quo and particularly the overbearing power of our government itself.