Vapers Fight Back Against Chicago’s Anti-E-Cigarette Crusade
Chicago’s public health campaign against e-cigarettes has received a furious backlash from vaper users and harm reduction advocates.
With the full support of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is engaging in a public information and social media campaign to highlight “the highly addictive nature of nicotine” and the “toxic chemicals and poison found in e-liquids.”
The CDPH took to Twitter to persuade the public Wednesday that vaping carried of host dangers and should be avoided as a smoking cessation method.
Under the hashtag #vapingtruth the CPHD spewed out a stream of tweets claiming “exposure to relatively small amounts of nicotine can rapidly be fatal” and “it is unclear whether e-cigarettes may be effective as smoking-cessation aids.”
The campaign is part of Chicago’s wider tobacco control strategy, despite e-cigarettes containing no tobacco. “From regulating e-cigarettes to banning the sale of flavored tobacco near our schools, we are committed to enacting every possible strategy to prevent youth from ever picking up smoking,” Emanuel said in a statement Wednesday.