6 ms·
For those of us without a NYT account, one part I found interesting from the WSJ report on the topic was their carefulness regarding pulling the trigger prematu
by docbrown 8y ago
For those of us without a NYT account, one part I found interesting from the WSJ report on the topic was their carefulness regarding pulling the trigger prematurely. While the FDA is trying to decrease the attractiveness of menthol, they’re strategically playing a sympathetic long term game with smokers.
As they and everyone knows, quiting smoking is a difficult task and suddenly prohibiting many peoples go-to fix would be cruel and possibly cause more harm than good.
>FDA officials—who want to curb use among youth while still encouraging adult cigarette smokers to switch to less harmful products like e-cigarettes—decided not to restrict sales of mint and menthol e-cigarettes because they didn’t want to create a situation in which cigarettes were more attractive to smokers who prefer menthol, senior agency officials said. [1]
[1]: https://www.wsj.com/articles/fda-to-propose-ban-of-menthol-cigarettes-1541795941 https://www.wsj.com/articles/fda-to-propose-ban-of-menthol-c...
- udp 8y agoNothing strategic there. It would be bizarre and unprecedented to ban any e-cigarette flavour. There are thousands, and there’s nothing special about menthol.
- dpark 8y agoNothing unprecedented about it. Most traditional cigarette flavors are banned, since 2009.
- 1stcity3rdcoast 8y agoIt just happened today: https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/national/health-science/fda-plans-to-impose-severe-restrictions-on-e-cigarettes/2018/11/08/91253cf2-e3a1-11e8-8f5f-a55347f48762_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/national/health-scien...
- stevedt 8y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menthol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menthol FTA: Menthol has local anesthetic and counterirritant qualities, and it is widely used to relieve minor throat irritation. This makes it easier to get new smokers going without the coughing / throat irritation.
- tinus_hn 8y agoQuitting smoking is pretty easy, all you need to do is whatever you were doing already, except smoking cigarettes. Not allowing people to smoke is not cruel and not harmful. In fact, allowing people to smoke is cruel and harmful. The only debatable part is if people should be allowed to harm themselves by smoking.
- pnloyd 8y agoHesitant to reply because your comment seems borderline trolling to me. But as someone who quit smoking after a many years habbit Ive personally never done anything harder.
- tinus_hn 8y agoSo do you think you would have been harmed if actions had been taken to prevent you from starting in the first place? Do you think you’re harming yourself or being cruel to yourself now by not smoking anymore?
- pnloyd 8y agoPerhaps not but that point of view is a dramatic over simplification of the situation. I used nicotine as a cruch while dealing with mental health issues. Part of the time I was smoking I really did _need_ it. Taking it away from me then would have been cruel.
- stevewillows 8y agoI quit tobacco and moved to vaping, and it still took me about six months to totally quit. Once I did, my body decided to punish me. It started with crazy canker sores all over my tongue and a few pimples. The timelines I read were fairly accurate (e.g. tastebuds coming back, etc), but the biggest struggle was breaking the pattern. Vaping just wasn't the same from the ritual side, but I'm glad I quit tobacco itself. Unlike many, I have no plans to quit nicotine. For me it takes the edge off -- and I think a lot of people with depression and anxiety are in the same boat. People who haven't quit smoking will never understand what its like to quit smoking -- but the same goes for any addiction.