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The U.S. surgeon general has warned against surging e-cigarette use among teenagers, calling it a "major public health concern" in a new report:
The U.S. surgeon general is calling e-cigarettes an emerging public health threat to the nation's youth. In a report being released Thursday, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy acknowledged a need for more research into the health effects of "vaping," but said e-cigarettes aren't harmless and too many teens are using them. "My concern is e-cigarettes have the potential to create a whole new generation of kids who are addicted to nicotine," Murthy told The Associated Press. "If that leads to the use of other tobacco-related products, then we are going to be moving backward instead of forward."
[...] Federal figures show that last year, 16 percent of high school students reported at least some use of e-cigarettes - even some who say they've never smoked a conventional cigarette. While not all contain nicotine, Murthy's report says e-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco-related product among youth. Nicotine is bad for a developing brain no matter how it's exposed, Murthy said. "Your kids are not an experiment," he says in a public service announcement being released with the report.
It's already illegal to sell e-cigarettes to minors. Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration issued new rules that, for the first time, will require makers of nicotine-emitting devices to begin submitting their ingredients for regulators to review.
Also at USA Today, NYT, The Hill, and The Washington Post.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Friday December 09 2016, @06:28PM
And the crazy libertarian goes crazy. Who'd've guessed?
It's not authoritarian to be concerned that products are being marketed and sold to minors, who we, as a society, generally recognize as not necessarily being capable of understanding the full ramifications of every choice they make. Particularly when those products have known elements that are both addictive and known to be harmful to minors, in particular.
That's making laws that establish boundaries on just who you can sell things to for reasons that are generally pretty valid in terms of overall harm and ability to engage in informed consent. I know you believe in magic, so my reply won't convince you that it's not all just people "getting what they deserve" and the government is "infringing on freedom" by assessing the nature of drugs and their effects. But it's always nice to condescend to people who really are just nuts.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday December 09 2016, @06:43PM
It IS authoritarian. First, the authoritarians redefined "minor" to suit their own opinions. Only two generations ago, a married couple were by definition, "adult". It didn't matter if they were 13 years old, and eloped to get married - they had a marriage license, they were adults. An adult could decide to drink, and a parent could serve alcohol to his/her own child in any setting - public or private. Today, if I give my 18 year old son a beer in the privacy of my own home, and he posts that on Facefook, the cops will be here in ten minutes to kick my door down. That IS authoritarian.
The fact that you approve of these authoritarian powers doesn't change the fact that they are authoritarian. The fact that I disapprove of them doesn't change that fact. Authoritarianism is exactly what it says on the package. You presume to be smarter than other people, and you presume to have some right or authority to decide what they may do.
That works alright, for your own children. Until they say "Fuck you Dad, we're moving out!"
It doesn't work so well out here in the big bad world. The kids still drink, smoke tobacco, smoke pot, shoot up all kinds of shit - and you won't stop them.
So - you want to continue the "War on Drugs", and maybe start another "War on Tobacco" or "War on Nictotine"? Basically, you would rather pay cops to kill kids for disobeying the law, than allow them to decide how to poison themselves.
THAT is what your authoritarianism is all about.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Friday December 09 2016, @07:02PM
Authoritarianism, for those who actually care, is defined as
To a libertarian it's more like
(Score: 2) by rondon on Friday December 09 2016, @08:00PM
Do you dispute that our government has "almost absolute control" over the drugs nicotine, alcohol, and most others except for caffeine? Do I not remember a man in New York City being choked to death for selling cigarettes for which he hadn't paid the tax man enough money? Is that not, by definition, authoritarian when a man can be murdered for not paying taxes on the drug that he sells?
Jesus Christ, why do we need to argue in this day and age about whether or not our government is freaking authoritarian on drugs? They are waging a war on drugs, for Christ's sake.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Friday December 09 2016, @08:17PM
Yes I do dispute that. You're wrong. You're 100% wrong.
You're arguing from example. The reality is that any drug which has passed safety inspections sufficient to be sold freely, can be examined, bought, and consumed from any number of privately run drug stores in the country, with non-government, expert oversight required in situations where taking the substance is measurably risky and hard for non-expert to understand.
Sorry this is once again a case where the libertarian "side" is just being an obsessed idiot who decries any and all regulation on willful misunderstandings. It's basically baby's first ideology, and a modest amount of self-critical analysis would have driven you to ways you're just utterly incorrect.
(The excessive use of force by police enforcing laws is a serious problem, and in general, enforcement of this medical law should be run through citations and fines)
(Score: 2) by rondon on Wednesday December 14 2016, @01:53PM
I don't understand how you are ignoring your own caveats. "Safety inspections sufficient" means that the government can declare any substance unsafe, regardless of actual safety, and then regulate that up unto the point of enforcing their rules with violence. The violence, I might add, can escalate to murder without serious repercussions. This strikes me as well within the definition of authoritarian.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday December 09 2016, @08:02PM
You've chosen one definition, as it applies to government, and that appeals to your own opinions.
au·thor·i·tar·i·an
əˌTHôrəˈterēən/
adjective
adjective: authoritarian
1.
favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.
"the transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime"
synonyms: autocratic, dictatorial, despotic, tyrannical, draconian, oppressive, repressive, illiberal, undemocratic; More
disciplinarian, domineering, overbearing, iron-fisted, high-handed, peremptory, imperious, strict, rigid, inflexible;
informalbossy
"his authoritarian manner"
antonyms: democratic, liberal
showing a lack of concern for the wishes or opinions of others; domineering; dictatorial.
"he had an authoritarian and at times belligerent manner"
noun
noun: authoritarian; plural noun: authoritarians
1.
an authoritarian person.
synonyms: autocrat, despot, dictator, tyrant; More
disciplinarian, martinet
"the army is dominated by authoritarians"
Translate authoritarian to
Use over time for: authoritarian
adjective
1.
favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom:
authoritarian principles; authoritarian attitudes.
2.
of or relating to a governmental or political system, principle, or practice in which individual freedom is held as completely subordinate to the power or authority of the state, centered either in one person or a small group that is not constitutionally accountable to the people.
3.
exercising complete or almost complete control over the will of another or of others:
an authoritarian parent.
noun
4.
a person who favors or acts according to authoritarian principles.
________________________________
Take a leadership test someday. FYI, I am an authoritarian/coach blend of leader. I know what authoritarian is, because I are one. Take a course, take a test, and learn more about yourself. YOu ARE an authoritarian. You are not the same kind of authoritarian that I am, but you are one.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 10 2016, @05:36AM
So is the NSA's mass surveillance authoritarian? How do you know if their control is absolute or approaching absolute? How can that be measured? By this standard, it's hard to say with confidence that authoritarianism exists at all, even in the worst countries.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 10 2016, @05:33AM
It's not authoritarian to be concerned that products are being marketed and sold to minors, who we, as a society, generally recognize as not necessarily being capable of understanding the full ramifications of every choice they make.
Unless you're an idiot, you would also recognize that that applies to pretty much every adult in existence. Who understands the full ramifications of every choice they make? What an insane standard. Besides that, most adults seem to be only slightly better than children at making long-term decisions, so this seems incredibly arbitrary. Maybe we should test everyone periodically.