What Politicians Get Wrong In Their Efforts To Curb Smoking And Vaping

This episode of What’s Ahead examines how in recent years public health officials and politicians have both been doing more harm than good in battling cigarette smoking.

The latest example is New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposal to raise cigarette taxes—already sky-high—and to extend the ban on flavored vapes to flavored tobacco products, the biggest of which is menthol cigarettes. Higher taxes won’t reduce smoking but will increase an already booming bootleg cigarette market. There is also considerable misinformation about menthol cigarettes, starting with the bogus belief that they lure young people into taking up smoking. Actually, menthol smokers start later in life than do nonmenthol smokers, and they consume fewer cigarettes.

The murderously misguided war against vaping continues.

Politicians and healthcare functionaries should heed the medical admonition: Do no harm.