Fake news about vaping has been trending and hitting the vaping community pretty hard, but recently the misinformation is being utilized by one particular major news outlet. CNN has joined the fight against vaping by spreading false claims that tobacco use amongst high school students is on the rise . CNN is constantly under fire for reporting false news by researchers, advocates, and scientists from different industries, so why anyone actually still listens to them is beyond me. They are currently reporting that tobacco use by students has increased 900% from 2011-2015. This false information came directly from the Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy.

“These products are now the most commonly used form of tobacco among youth in the United States, surpassing conventional tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and hookahs.”

they are not tobacco products, no matter how badly the Now, while e-cigs are becoming more popular,, no matter how badly the FDA and other agencies want to consider them to be. There is no tobacco in e-liquid, therefore, it’s not tobacco.

The article that CNN posted, which can be found

here

,

is full of ridiculous scare tactics that have been used to scare people away from using vaping as a smoking cessation method . Even the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Tom Frieden, states that vaping companies are using the same advertising tactics as tobacco companies to lure young users. This is a commonly debunked myth about vaping being a gateway to smoking cigarettes or other tobacco products( It's NOT ).

Why The Original Study Is Questionable

I’ll make this even more clear. The statistic that there has been a 900% increase in tobacco use in high-schoolers is just plain wrong. Many e-liquids do not contain nicotine, and the ones that do contain nicotine use an extracted version of liquid nicotine. This form of nicotine does not have the same risks related to ignited tobacco-driven nicotine. CNN’s report also doesn’t take into account whether or not a teen tried a liquid that contained nicotine, which brings the validity of their article into question. Other overlooked information would be if the teens reported being a daily user, an occasional user, or literally just tried it one time. Lastly, no where in the study did the researchers ask if the teens were using vaping as smoking cessation, which should be a HUGE red flag on the validity of their research.

Nicotine Isn't The Boogie Man

Something that people don't notice in this article is where the Surgeon General’s website states that nicotine is considered a “smart drug.” It’s been known to help increase focus and alertness, decreases appetite, sustain attention, and decrease distractibility. Nicotine is actually being studied by researchers to be used for the fight against dementia and Alzheimer’s

So let me ask you this: Does this sound like an accurate report that gives information leading to how vaping is bad? Or is it more special interest groups that are funded by Big Tobacco trying to slander an industry that is trying to help people?