“I don’t know many adults who would like to inhale bubble gum or strawberry vapor.” – Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal
Ms. Linda Rosenthal, a Manhattan-based lawmaker, is currently leading efforts to ban the sale of flavored e-liquids in New York, motivated by the erroneous belief that they have been designed to appeal to children.
Sigh.
Ms. Rosenthal, we know you mean well, but come on!
At Halo, we never, ever market to children. What’s more, we recognize that adults do enjoy flavored vapes the same way they’d enjoy flavored foods or candies. “Sweet teeth” aren’t only found in children’s mouths.
Using flavored vape juices can actually help smokers lose their taste for tobacco and become former smokers! As such, a flavor ban would be counterproductive to reducing harm from smoking. As a lawmaker who supported raising the smoking age to 21 in New York, Ms. Rosenthal obviously has a desire to see cigarettes endanger fewer people.
It should be noted that this proposed ban is just the latest example of government taking choice away from adults, many of whom are looking to get away from combustible tobacco cigarettes for good. San Francisco residents are set to vote on a flavor ban in June 2018, for example.
Burning Questions
If you’re reading this right now (not Ms. Rosenthal, but you vapers) there’s a good chance you’ve at least tried some vaping flavors aside from tobacco, and you might even enjoy them regularly. As an adult, do you agree with her comments about “bubble gum or strawberry vapor” above?
Such a broad and inaccurate statement begs many questions. To Ms. Rosenthal and those who share her views about flavored vapes, we ask:
Do you ever enjoy sweets for dessert?
Have you ever had an after-dinner mint?
Ever had a smoothie or fruit-flavored drink?
Do you ever chew gum?
If you’re an adult that answered “yes” to any of these, it’s simply not credible to suggest that adults don’t enjoy these flavors.
Irony Is a Dish Best Served Sweet
Ms. Rosenthal’s Twitter feed shows her to be a strong supporter of products and efforts that help wean people off drugs, including supervised injection facilities. Clearly, she understands the idea of substituting one product for another to save lives — a mission we share.
Perhaps she’s only interested in getting people off dangerous drugs that are illegal, but not legal ones like cigarettes? That’s a questionable stance.
Represent
If you live in New York, especially in her Manhattan district, you may want to contact Ms. Rosenthal and ask her to explain the disparities in her views. You may also want to contact other state assemblypersons who may support her bill.
Wherever you live, if a flavor ban is being considered in your area, please speak to your elected officials and let them know how you, as a vaper, feel about flavored e-liquids. You are in the best position to educate the misguided and misinformed.
Patrick Moody is the Senior Copywriter at Nicopure Labs. He has more than 20 years of experience writing in a variety of industries, including education, technology, and broadcasting.
This article was originally published at halocigs.com.