Charles A. Gardner, PhD Profile picture
Apr 22, 2022 β€’ 16 tweets β€’ 7 min read β€’ Read on X
OK, so... unlike nicotine:
- alcohol (and cannabis) intoxicate
- alcohol abuse actually DOES harm developing brains
- teen binge drinking causes 3,500 deaths every year

THREAD
πŸ‘‡πŸ‘‡πŸ‘‡
(2)
FAR fewer teens vape than drink. FAR fewer teens vape nicotine daily than binge drink.

It's very clear here, that vape firms do a FAR better job keeping their products away from teens than alcohol companies do.

So why the irrational #MoralPanic over teen nicotine vaping?
(3)
So... Why the irrational #MoralPanic over teen nicotine vaping?

I assume that's because 4 decades of tobacco control messaging have convinced the public and physicians that nicotine is FAR more harmful than alcohol or cannabis.
rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-l….
(4)
Seriously though... nicotine? Doesn't intoxicate. Slightly increases focus, attention and memory, while paradoxically reducing stress and anxiety.

Difficult to see how any of that is bad.
rsph.org.uk/about-us/news/…
(5)
But the 1988 @Surgeon_General report says, "The pharmacologic and behavioral PROCESSES that determine TOBACCO addiction are SIMILAR to those that determine addiction to drugs such as heroin and cocaine."
wwwn.cdc.gov/osh_pub_catalo….
(6)
Ever since 1988, based on the above statement (processes; tobacco; similar), people in tobacco control, and journalists, have been stating confidently that "nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine."

That sounds like a harm. But it's a wild exaggeration.
(7)
So how dependence-forming is nicotine, really? Rats don't like it (it's super difficult to get them to push a lever for it, though they're happy to press the lever for cocaine).
(8)
...and the @US_FDA says, very clearly, that nicotine patches and nicotine gum are not dependence-forming or "subject to abuse."
federalregister.gov/documents/2013…
(9)
So... how is the pharmaceutical grade nicotine in a vape, #snus or nicotine pouch magically transformed into "highly addictive"...

...when the exact same molecule in nicotine patches and gum is not even dependence-forming?

Or is wild exaggeration now a public health tactic?
(10)
How is it possible for nicotine to be "highly addictive," but for US high school nicotine vaping to drop 60% in just two years?
(11)
Which it clearly did. Down by nearly 2/3rds in 2 years. The kids just quit. This is NOT consistent with "highly addictive" claims.
(12)
So... Did those kids quit vaping and switch to smoking to get their "highly addictive" nicotine fix? Woah. No.

Seriously no. US teen cigarette smoking has plummeted to 1.9%. Only 0.38% now smoke frequently (>20 days/month).
(13)
But maybe kids who vaped nicotine in high school will transition to cigarette smoking once they become young adults? No... That's wrong too.

Among all US adults, the age group with the steepest rate of smoking decline is - you guessed it - young adults.
(14)
So, basically, in the United States of America, smoking is dead. As this cohort of teens and young adults ages, smoking is dead.

And here's a little secret: Total teen nicotine use is lower now than at any time in the past 50 years.
(15)
Which brings us back to today. Again I ask, why is teen use of a mildly psychoactive drug (nicotine) which is no more harmful than caffeine, which they use far less today than at any time in the past 50 years, and use FAR less than alcohol, causing so much #MoralPanic?
(16/16)
Obviously, teens should not vape, drink or smoke. But only one of these things helps US adults quit using a deadly thing (cigarettes) that kills 480,000/year.

Alcohol? Legal. Cannabis? Lgalization is roaring ahead. Why is nicotine the new target in the War on Drugs?

β€’ β€’ β€’

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
γ€€

Keep Current with Charles A. Gardner, PhD

Charles A. Gardner, PhD Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @ChaunceyGardner

Apr 17
Welcome to How to Lie with Percentages 101
This seems like a minor point in @FDATobacco Director King's recent Op/Ed in Nature. Here is a quote:

"In 2021, 11.3% of high-school students used e-cigarettes, compared with 4.5% of adults."

It's misleading in 4 ways.
(1/6) πŸ‘‡Image
(2/6)
First, it's not 2021 anymore. The latest data from the @CDCgov NYTS and NHIS surveys are easily available to the authors.

In 2023, 10% of US high school students vape nicotine "at least once in the past month." And 7% of adults do so "daily or some days."
(3/6)
2nd, why high school? The 2023 average for all US middle and high school students is 7.7%.


7.0% of all US adults vape nicotine as of Q3 2023.


Very similar. How awkward is THAT?cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/7…
wwwn.cdc.gov/NHISDataQueryT…
Read 6 tweets
Apr 2
Humans have been burning leaves of the tobacco plant, and inhaling the smoke, for well over 8,000 years now.

It had ceremonial purposes, presumably when nicotine's psychoactive effects were needed: increased focus, attention and memory.

THREAD πŸ‘‡ Image
(2)
For thousands of years, tobacco leaf smoking was only a thing in the Americas.

In the Old World plenty of people smoked, but not tobacco leaves. THEY smoked cannabis or opium.


Image
Image
Image
Image
(3)
Then THIS guy, Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), brought tobacco leaves back to England from the New World.

He was beheaded in 1618... but not for smoking. The Spanish Ambassador demanded it, so King James approved it.

Smoking caught on in England and the Old World. Image
Read 14 tweets
Mar 21
Congratulations. You have invited PAVE to tell you about the dangers of vaping. Here's a head's up on what they are going to tell you....

THREAD
πŸ‘‡πŸ‘‡πŸ‘‡ Image
(2)
"Middle school use is up."

#FactCheck: MISLEADING. Middle & high school nicotine vaping dropped 61% over the past 4 years. 1.9% of teens vape nicotine daily, so may be 'hooked' (down >50% in the past 4 years).

2019:
2023: cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/6…
cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/7…Image
(3)
"More than 1 in 4 teens use e-cigarettes daily."

#FactCheck: FALSE. 7.7% of middle & high schoolers vape nicotine "at least once in the past 30 days."

Of THOSE, 25.2% (1 in 4) vape daily = 1.9%. So 1 in 53 vape nicotine daily. Not 1 in 4.
cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/7…
Read 18 tweets
Jan 6
Consider "the Standard Narrative" *pushed* by tobacco control:

β€’ Whole new generation addicted to nicotine
β€’ E-cigarettes are a gateway to smoking
β€’ Ecig use increased exponentially, especially among teens
β€’ They target teens
β€’ Nicotine harms developing brains

(1/X) πŸ‘‡πŸ§΅πŸ‘‡Image
(1a) Where is this "whole new generation addicted to nicotine"?
In the USA, teen nicotine USE is lower today than at any time in the past 50 years.
#FactCheckMe: @CDCgov and @NIH survey dataImage
(1b) Where is this "whole new generation "addicted" to nicotine"?
The above numbers do not measure "addiction." For that, we need to look at frequent and daily use.
#FactCheckMe: @CDCgov survey dataImage
Read 17 tweets
Dec 18, 2023
Daily Brain Harm News
15 past-Presidents of the top professional society in tobacco control call "nicotine brain harm" claims "speculative" because there is no human evidence.

Yet @CDCgov continues to tell the public "nicotine harms developing brains" is a known fact.

THREAD πŸ‘‡Image
(2)
How do we sort that all out? First, we should consider what actually can, tragically, cause permanent life-long harm to developing brains.

- under-nutrition
- toxic stress factors (neglect, abuse, loss of parents,
and exposure to violence) Image
(3)
Next, we should consider the evidence "nicotine harms developing brains":

Young rats have subtle reversible brain changes (not necessarily harms) that are comparable to changes caused by caffeine.

This is the evidence used to claim nicotine is a "brain poison."


Image
Image
Image
Image
Read 10 tweets
Oct 8, 2022
This VERY common "mistake" is a direct consequence of the way CDC & FDA present teen vaping data.

It confuses journalists, the public and members of Congress.

@CDCDirector Walensky & @FDACommissioner @DrCaliff_FDA: I demand you STOP reporting Daily Use as a % of 'current use'.
(2)
Here is example #2 @CDCDirector Walensky and @DrCaliff_FDA. Another "trusted" source telling the public 1 in 4 teens use ecigs daily.

The reason this is happening is clear: You present the data in a deliberately confusing way (daily use as a percentage of 'current use').
(3)
Example #3 @CDCDirector Walensky and @DrCaliff_FDA. The way CDC and FDA communicate US teen vaping numers to the public is demonstrably confusing.
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(