Raise vaping age to 21 nationwide
Federal lawmakers should follow the lead of Hawaii, Washington and at least 16 other states in raising the age of legal sale for vapor and tobacco products to 21.
Doing so will make it more difficult for high school students to access these potentially harmful products, while helping keep them out of the hands of even younger teens.
Although it is often pitched as a safer alternative to cigarettes for existing adult smokers, vaping has been devastatingly popular with young people. According to national data, 5 million children use e-cigarettes, compared with 8 million adults.
Trump administration officials are said to be considering increasing the legal age of purchase and banning flavored e-cigarette products. Vape juices flavored to taste like candy, fruit or sweet deserts are popular with young users, who also say they appreciate small, discreet vape pens instead of traditional tobacco cigarettes.
But nicotine can harm developing brains regardless of how it is ingested — through smoke, water vapor or chew. And as this summer’s rash of vaping-related lung injuries so clearly demonstrates, additives might present other unknown dangers. As of last week, 2,051 cases of vaping-related lung injuries had been reported in 49 states — every state except Alaska. Thirty-nine deaths have been confirmed.
The apparent link between the injuries and the additive Vitamin E acetate has the CDC urging people to avoid e-cigarette products containing THC, particularly from informal sources or online merchants.
For years, e-cigarettes have largely been given a pass by regulators based on the lack of evidence of actual harm. Those days are definitively finished.
A federal ban on underage sales and tighter restrictions on flavorings and additives are needed to safeguard public health.
— The Seattle Times
Google banned 7 Trump ads but it won’t say why. That’s wrong.
Facebook’s feckless decision to accept political ads from candidates that make false claims has the potential to damage American democracy at a time when social media can be more easily manipulated than ever. Now Google has raised the threat level by rejecting seven ads from the Trump campaign that didn’t meet its standards — but declining to say what those standards were or which ads it banned. Meanwhile, YouTube, which Google owns, uses Facebook’s let-them-lie approach for posts. How can the smart people who built these tech juggernauts be so incoherent on this? Why not be transparent or consistent? Why not be responsible?
The best approach remains for Facebook and Google to do what broadcast and cable TV networks have done for decades: Have politically neutral fact-checkers vet every single political ad. This approach has not prevented past campaigns from running powerful, hard-hitting ads. What it does prevent, or at least limit, is the rapid spread of disinformation. After the spectacle of social media being used to foment confusion among potential American voters by inciting racial controversies and lying about candidates during the 2016 presidential campaign, it’s hard to fathom that Facebook and Google don’t have clear policies in place for the 2020 campaign.
Facebook, Google, YouTube and other hugely popular social networks need to grasp they have a correspondingly huge responsibility to their users. Their actions show they haven’t figured this out.
— The San Diego Union-Tribune
