Did the American Cancer Society Just Endorse Vaping?

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Did the American Cancer Society Just Endorse Vaping?

Some vapers have gotten very excited this week about the American Cancer Society’s “new position” on vaping. Many are billing it as a major step forward in acceptance of e-cigarettes by a mainstream public health organization.

But is it really a major shift?

“Some smokers, despite firm clinician advice, will not attempt to quit smoking cigarettes and will not use FDA approved cessation mediations,” says the position statement. “These individuals should be encouraged to switch to the least harmful form of tobacco product possible; switching to the exclusive use of e-cigarettes is preferable to continuing to smoke combustible products.”

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JUUL Responds to Online Cancer Rumors

Vape manufacturer JUUL Labs was forced to issue a public statement (shown below) in response to a wave of internet rumors about the company’s flagship JUUL product causing lung cancer.
The stories seem to have begun on college campuses, although it’s impossible to pin down the exact sources. According to The Tab, the stories have circulated at New York University, Iowa, and the University of Southern California.
They follow a typical format of viral rumors, referring to a victim who is “a friend,” and filling in detail haphazardly. Like chain letters, the stories morphed as they spread. Most were screenshots of plain text that were attached to social media posts.
One story circulating on social media looked like this:
“announcement: one of chris’ friends friends from college has never smoked weed or cigs but for the past year he has been an addictive juuler like constantly which is basically like all of us and he was just diagnosed with lung cancer and his lungs are completely black and he’s 19 and he’s probably going to die. scotty and a few of my guy friends have thrown their juul away but just wanted to say because if that happened to any of y’all i’d probably off myself”

Lung cancer can occur after many years of exposure to a carcinogenic substance, like the tar in cigarette smoke. It doesn’t happen after a year. In any case, vaping has not been shown to cause cancer. (more…)