Welcome To The Internet, Have These 15 Bo Burnham Memes
The comedian and musician's latest album, chronicling his online descent into madness during the pandemic, has inspired even more memes than you might guess from that topic.
Kermit Is Here, When The World Needs Him Most
This exploitable image macro, based on a scene from The Muppets, uses Kermit as a stand-in for someone or something coming to help when it is needed most.
Do e-cigarettes have to be regulated?
E-cigarette companies are terrified of government regulation, whether it be safety regulations or laws that control where vapers are allowed to vape. Right-wing think tanks will criticize the FDA whenever they attempt to regulate the E-cigarette industry, claiming that regulations will do more harm than good. All of the arguments against regulation of the E-cigarette industry follow the same exact pattern. First, they will claim that E-cigarette usage hasn’t actually risen a significant level; which is obviously wrong. Then they will argue that regulations of the vaping industry claiming that it will increase smoking rates because E-cigarettes are an effective smoking cessation tool. Both claims are patently false, but it’s what lobbyists for the E-cigarette industry, which includes some doctors, will claim when talking to legislators.
Do e-cigarettes help smokers?
E-cigarettes companies still market their products as a safe alternative for smokers to switch to so they can quit entirely. However, the evidence shows that E-cigarettes aren’t a useful smoking cessation tool, and kids will readily switch from E-cigarettes to regular cigarettes. There is a large body of research examining if E-cigarettes help smokers quit; they don’t. A systematic review and meta-analysis published in The Lancet in 2016 reviewed 38 studies investigating if E-cigarettes could be used to aid smoking cessation. It found that the odds of someone quitting were 26% lower if they used E-cigarettes. It was also found that the odds of a smoker quitting if they switched to E-cigarettes were the same whether they intended to quit smoking or not. Despite the research clearly showing that E-cigarettes don’t work as a smoking cessation tool, E-cigarette companies will still market them as if they are.
Is e-cigarette vapor safe?
E-cigarettes started out being marketed as a “healthy” alternative to cigarettes when they hit the market in 2006. E-cigarettes are generally regarded as safer than traditional cigarettes but they have a lot of the same health risks, in addition risks of their own. Environmental Health Perspectives published a study in 2016 looking at the chemicals in the E-cigarette fluid, and of the 51 tested, 39 contained diacetyl. Diacetyl is a chemical flavoring typically used in popcorn as a butter-like flavoring. Diacetyl has been found to cause severe lung disease consistent with bronchiolitis obliterans in an investigation by the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety. Bronchiolitis obliterans or “popcorn lung” causes irreversible lung damage, and can result in chronic cough and shortness of breath. Diacetyl isn’t the only chemical in E-cigarette vapor to be concerned about however.
