Although the 0.4% increase may be at least partly due to smokers who hoarded cigarettes during the COVID-19 pandemic, this coincides with a decline in the use of e-cigarettes among adolescents and adults-a potential warning sign that suggests anti-e-cigarettes The movement is undermining the improvement of public health by increasing cigarette consumption

In 2020, despite the increase in cigarette purchases, the proportion of adults who smoke appears to continue to decline for a long period of time since the 1960s. According to preliminary data from the US Health Interview Survey, the current prevalence of smoking among Americans 18 years of age or older last year was approximately 13%, which was lower than 14% in 2019 and more than 40% in 1965. The same survey found that the current prevalence of e-cigarette use among adults has dropped from 4.5% in 2019 to less than 4% in 2020.

The monitoring study, through comparison, found that the prevalence of smoking among senior high school students who had cigarettes in the past month increased by 32% from 2019 to 2020. Last year, it jumped from 5.7% to 7.5%, which coincided with the decline for three consecutive years. The increase in e-cigarettes is very different from the decline in youth smoking that began in the late 1990s. Since 1997, 36.5% of 12th graders said that they had smoked cigarettes in the last month. This percentage has been declining or remaining stable every year, except for an increase of 2.4% in 2004, which then resumed a downward trend.

Although we should not use one year's data too much, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that e-cigarettes have replaced youth smoking. Based on data from multiple surveys, a 2018 study by Tobacco Control found that as e-cigarettes become more and more popular, the rate of decline in the smoking rate among young people has accelerated.

A 2021 study by the American Medical Association found evidence that San Francisco banned e-cigarette-flavored adolescents and young adults from smoking in 2018. This means that the policy aims to prevent minors from smoking e-cigarettes, to a certain extent, to make e-cigarettes less attractive, more expensive or more difficult to obtain, but will encourage the consumption of more harmful products.

As with monitoring future research, the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) found that as adolescents use e-cigarettes, the rate of adolescent smoking continues to decline. For example, between 2016 and 2019, the prevalence of high school students smoking e-cigarettes rose from 11.3% to 27.5% last month, while the prevalence of smoking dropped from 8% to 5.8% last month. The e-cigarette rate dropped to 19.6% and 11.3% in 2020 and 2021, respectively-a 59% drop in two years. Although the smoking rate dropped to 4.6% in 2020, the figure for 2021 has not yet been announced.

The fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which oversees NYTS, chose to release e-cigarette data for 2021 firstly reflects its determination to keep the public vigilant about youth e-cigarette smoking.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cited the number of e-cigarettes as a reason to rectify the e-cigarette industry, including its prejudice against e-liquid flavors, which the vast majority of smokers like. Neither agency acknowledged the sharp decline in the use of e-cigarettes among young people. And since the CDC has not shown us the rest of NYTS's results, we don't know whether this decline occurred at the same time as the increase in smoking among youths, which will further doubt whether the policies supported by the CDC and the FDA are wise.

In addition to legal restrictions, these policies also include publicity to deliberately cover up the huge difference between the health risks posed by e-cigarettes and the health risks posed by smoking. Although the FDA recognizes that e-cigarettes have the potential to reduce harm, the alarmist message it sends to teenagers suggests that e-cigarettes are actually more dangerous than smoking. Over the years, activists and public officials have been minimizing, ignoring or denying the potential life-saving benefits of switching from smoking to e-cigarettes.

Therefore, Americans are increasingly confused about the relative harm of these two habits.

From 2012 to 2017, according to the analysis of the results of two national surveys in 2019, the proportion of respondents who correctly believed that e-cigarettes are less dangerous than traditional combustible types in a survey dropped from 51% to 35%, from 39%. % To the other 34%. At the same time, the percentage of people who mistakenly believe that e-cigarettes are as dangerous as smoking rose from 46% to 56% and from 12% to 36%, respectively.

In two surveys, the percentage of people who mistakenly believe that e-cigarettes are more dangerous than smoking has tripled, with one reaching nearly 10% and the other over 4%.

Subsequent investigations showed that misinformation about the black market THC cannabis e-cigarette lung damage occurred one after another, and the CDC irresponsibly encouraged the public to associate with nicotine products, leading to further confusion. Two morning consultation polls found that between June 2018 and September 2019, the proportion of Americans who understand that e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking dropped by 14 percentage points.

It is not only dishonest and immoral to scare people away from e-cigarettes by exaggerating its harm, it is also counterproductive from a public health perspective. If the resulting decline in e-cigarette use leads to more smoking than otherwise, the result will be more tobacco-related morbidity and mortality, which is contrary to the goals that the CDC and FDA are trying to achieve.

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