Under increasing pressure, big tobacco companies are doing everything possible to keep electronic cigarettes, which offer a safer nicotine alternative, from intruding upon their shelf space.
You might be surprised by their allies in these efforts: regulators and politicians. But the decision to vape or not should be left to adults, not policymakers controlled by Big Tobacco.
Electronic cigarettes, like many other products we consume, such as whiskey and ribeye steaks, have potential health risks. But evidence shows they’re a much safer alternative to traditional cigarettes. One study shows that, even under pessimistic assumptions about smoking cessation and the relative harm of smoking alternatives, the switch to vaping still could save smokers millions of life years.
It is easy to see why vaping, which offers a safer product with reportedly better taste and smell due to its wider availability of flavors, is edging out traditional cigarettes in the marketplace. So much shelf-space is turning over to vaping products that it’s becoming hard to find a tobacco retailer that hasn’t put a reference to vaping products in its store name. In a free market, most investors would see the writing on the wall and shift resources away from tobacco and into e-cigs to better serve the changing needs of customers.
Daniel J. Smith – Real Clear Policy – 2022-02-28.
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