Vaping News

Trump “Drains the Swamp” For Vape

Trump fires the anti-ecig Surgeon General and signals a change for US harm reduction policy.

Share on:
Throughout his Presidential campaign, Trump promised to “drain the swamp” when in government and his supporters chanted it at every event. While he may have failed to deliver his much-derided wall, Trump has struck a huge blow for harm reduction and vaping naysayers in the United States by sacking the Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.

It can’t be overstated what a massive blow this is to the anti-ecig brigade; from the corridors of Californian lobbyist offices to corrupt Third World departments of health, they all used Murthy’s pronouncements as a justification for cracking down on electronic cigarettes. It’s not just the sacking, it’s the mood music that has accompanied it which lends a positive hue to the future.

Anti-tax mouthpiece Grover Norquist told the Washington Examiner: “As the nation's top doctor, Murthy had a responsibility to promote public health. On that, he was derelict in his duty, using his position as a platform to demonize vapour products and the millions of adults who use them.”

As we covered numerous times since Murthy was sworn in in 2014, he frequently spoke out against vaping and recently declared it “a threat to young peoples' health”. Effectively, as far as smoking harm reduction goes, he worked as a puppet for the pressure groups that use ridiculous lies to support their arguments and are funded by the pharmaceutical industry. Laughably, this recent report claimed itself to be “the gold standard of scientific reports”.

Norquist continued: “It signals that President Trump is draining the federal government of Obama-era holdouts who have no interest in the promotion of public health, creation of jobs, or the benefits of the free market. One more point on the board for vapers.”

“Instead of acknowledging what the rest of the world has, that vapour products are innovative and far safer alternatives to cigarette use, Murthy spent his days parroting talking points of anti-science activists.”

Murthy stood behind the ridiculous (and discredited) pieces of research that made up the body of his report. The funding gravy train continued for anybody wanting to have a slap at the tobacco and nicotine industries. Only this week one of his FDA-funded papers declared that it had obtained excellent value for money by ascertaining that children do not smoke premium cigars.

In other features this week we are looking at how the Hunter House Bill will support the push to free up anti-vape legislation and how this will all impact on those opposed to tobacco harm reduction.

Dave Cross avatar

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV
View Articles

Dave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous vape companies to develop content for their websites.

Join the discussion

Product

Parliament Fears Two

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs faced questions from a Conservative MP and, oddly, a member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Vaping News

Harm Reduction For The Rich

The United Kingdom risks becoming a harm reduction country only for the wealthy, according to Michael Landl of the World Vapers’ Alliance

Vaping News

Sacrificing Health For 2p Cut

Tory Government alienates vaping voters with its mission to cut tax by an unaffordable 2p to attract voters by placing a tax on vape products in the forthcoming budget

Vaping News

CAPHRA Highlights Tobacco Control Flaws

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates highlights the flaws in tobacco control which has led to the rise of black market in Australia