Well, well, well. We have quite an update for you on the big vaping crisis of 2019. Once again, when you have opposing viewpoints on an issue and the two sides break down as the establishment versus President Donald Trump – who do you suppose is correct, and who do you suppose is hyperventilating and spreading falsehoods?
In this case, the opposing parties are the Centers for Disease Control – the world’s leading health organization which recommends public health policy, and which is populated by the finest minds in the medical community. On the other side, you have Donald Trump and his common sense, folksy wisdom and instincts. And again, the issue this time is vaping.
This past July, there were several deaths of people using vaping pens, so the CDC issued one of its hyperventilating declarations. The agency recommended that all people immediately stop vaping and using vaping products as part of a public health emergency.
It also recommended that all vaping pens and products be immediately banned. According to the CDC, vaping was fatal and immediate government action was required in order to save lives.
Trump then did that thing which he always does when he’s being polite but hasn’t thought an issue through yet. He said something along the lines of, “Oh, yeah, vaping. Very dangerous. Very very bad situation for everyone because there are a lot of bad things about, uh… vaping. So, we’re working very hard on a vaping ban, which is going to be one of the greatest bans on any dangerous product that’s ever been done. You’ll see.”
The left was ecstatic about Trump’s initial declaration. Banning you from doing things is like a bottle of red wine and some Barry White music to Democrats. They just can’t resist the opportunity to ban you from doing something tomorrow, which is currently legal today. It sends a thrill up their pantsuit-covered, totalitarian legs. For everyone else, Trump’s looming ban on vaping was kind of weird.
Banning a popular product that we’re now seeing everywhere, because of a few initial and sketchy reports about deaths? What was Trump thinking?
Then, rather than talking to the doctors, experts and career policy wonks at the CDC, Trump sat down and talked with some vape shop owners. Trusting in his own instincts over the word of the CDC experts, Trump then decided, “Meh. Let’s not ban this vaping thing. Not the best option.”
As I’ve written previously, I don’t really have a dog in this hunt. Vaping looks really dumb and it’s not something I would ever do myself. But if you want to look like a fool and vape until you go cross-eyed and your butt turns blue, then by all means, go ahead. Vape away, vapers! So long as you do it downwind from me and my family, I have no problem with it.
I’m also generally against banning stuff because of perceived “reasons” given by busybodies on the left. If your vaping pen explodes in your face like you were Wile E. Coyote puffing on an Acme cigar, what do I care? Your body, your choice!
Now here we are four months later, and the CDC has issued a new report on the spate of vaping-related deaths earlier this year. In every single case, the individual who died had a chemical element in their system which is used for illegally vaping marijuana. That particular chemical is never used for vaping nicotine products. None of the individuals died from the nicotine vaping systems which the CDC tried to ban. The deaths all happened when individuals used their vaping “pens” in a non-recommended way to carry out an illegal action – and it led to their untimely deaths.
This vaping thing will turn out to be a minor blip in the 8-year presidency of Donald Trump. Most of us will have forgotten about it in a few months. But it illustrates a very important point once again.
Our elites are terrible at elite-ing, and President Trump’s instincts are generally right. Here we had the premier health organization in the world, the CDC, telling us prematurely that a legal product was so dangerous that it should be banned, and you should not use it. It’s a good example to keep in mind any time the career experts are at odds with Trump over any issue, from the Green New Deal to foreign aid to Ukraine.
