JOURNALISM NEGLIGENCE

JOURNALISM NEGLIGENCE

There it is. I said it. I am just as tired as you about what the news media will not tell you. These "vape deaths" are a result of adulterated THC cartridges.

The news continues to use words like "vaping" and "e-cigarettes" without saying one word about bootleg THC cartridges.

Their negligence has resulted in making the people who vape nervous when all the while the people who use black market THC cartridges are the ones at real risk. Local news organizations like ABC Action News 10 and Spectrum Bay News 9 have not made this more evident in their reporting. The real people at risk are not being helped by their misinformation.

The CDC reported on their website vitamin E acetate as a common ingredient used by street level drug dealers most responsible for vape related deaths around the US. Additionally, the FDA reported September 4th to state health departments their labs test results determined nothing unusual in the nicotine tested among all sick patients.

The news media is also responsible for bundling two different issues. They combine these illnesses/deaths along with youth vaping. Instead of separating the two, they want the public to feel one solution will resolve both problems. In my opinion nothing will please the media more than seeking vaping go away altogether.

A Trumps Flavor Ban has been offered up by the current administration to fix these problems. This solution is like removing a hangnail to fix an ear ache. One has nothing to do with the other. A flavor ban would not have saved one THC related deaths nor would it significantly reduce teen vaping.

After being in the vape business for nine years, I know with certainty when youth vaping took off. It happened when the JUUL grew in popularity. So does it make sense the real solution to significantly reducing teen vaping is to outlaw the JUUL? If you want to solve any problem you go directly to the source. With that said, how much impact would a Trump Flavor Ban have on teen vaping?

I hear so many vapers who say, "If you don't want your kid to vape then talk to your kid". Kids have been smoking cigarettes possibly since the day cigarettes were invented. Kids will do what kids will do because: kids like to explore, be cool, want to blend in with the cool crowd, do it because all other kids are doing it. Whatever the reason, a silver bullet to permanently fix this problem does not exist. Even if the JUUL disappeared or a Trump Flavor Ban became law, kids will always want to smoke something.

Vaping is 95% safer than cigarettes. If there was ever a silver lining in youth vaping, it would be that kids aren't smoking tobacco cigarettes as much. You may think that is awful to say but the reality is vaping is not as bad as smoking. Vaping does save lives. Ask the many adults who no longer smoke harmful cigarettes.

These are things the news will not say. They're only concerned with one thing, selling commercial ads. They'll sensationalize death and get you mad about youth vaping. What happened to non-bias news? What happened when news used to be real journalism you could trust? I guess those days are over. People need to filter information called news and do a little footwork on the internet to source the truth.

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