Because it sets up a false dichotomy that one can either be anti-vaping/pro-smoking or pro-vaping/anti-smoking. It is possible to recognize that vaping is safer than smoking but it is still dangerous and provides enough negative externalities that it should be highly discouraged.
Ok, fair enough. But you'd agree, then, that the degree of discouragement should be proportional to risk, right?
And that's where the 10 people per day dying in swimming pools seems relevant to bring up. Or the fact that 67% of smokers die from smoking, with hundreds of thousands of deaths per year. Or the fact that a majority of Americans believe that vaping is more harmful than smoking.
https://reason.com/2019/04/10/the-percentage-of-americans-wh...
>But you'd agree, then, that the degree of discouragement should be proportional to risk, right?
Yes partially, but it should also be proportional to the public's knowledge too. That is why some products are recalled after a single accident. It isn't that people are destined to die. The problem is instead when people assume the level of risk is low when it is actually moderate. That can be more dangerous than a riskier option in which everyone knows it is risky. For example, a swimming pool is unquestionably more dangerous than a trampoline. However most parents know a swimming pool is dangerous and won't let their kids swim unsupervised. They might not be aware of the dangers of trampolines. That asymmetry in the knowledge of the risks might end up making the trampoline more likely to result in an accident.
The general public thinks vaping is safer than it is. The general public is already very well aware how dangerous smoking is. I therefore think it is perfectly reasonable to be louder in denouncing vaping, especially considering this recent news seems to show it is even riskier than initially thought.
Sure, but that is missing half the equation. Every person who vapes is not a person who previously smoked or would have chosen to smoke if vaping didn't exist. The rate of the growth in vaping is much higher than the rate in decline of smoking. Like I said before, vaping can help people who are already addicts become healthier, but it is also creating new addicts and that is a problem.
I like to vape. I like to drink coffee. I like potato chips. All are addictive. If potato chips and coffee were released in 2019, would they be banned in San Francisco because they are addictive and dangerous for public health?
