SoylentNews

California's Legal Smoking Age Set to Rise to 21

posted by n1 on Thursday May 05 2016, @09:45PM   
from the magical-numbers dept.

takyon writes:

Late Wednesday, Brown signed the bill raising the age for tobacco use, including vaping, to 21, the Associated Press reports. He also vetoed a bill that would have asked voters to divert tobacco taxes to pay for the health expenses of those with tobacco-related ailments, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Source: NPR

---

Original Submission

• Re:Vaping and Unproven Health Effects (Score: 4, Informative) by djh2400 on Thursday May 05 2016, @11:23PM

  by djh2400 (725) on Thursday May 05 2016, @11:23PM (#342295)

  I recall this article from back in February on ArsTechnica, where a study looked at the number of genes of the immune system suppressed as a result of smoking vs. vaping: E-cigs shut down hundreds of immune system genes—regular cigs don’t [arstechnica.com].
  
  Here is the relevant segment from the 2^nd paragraph which I intend to point out:

  After comparing genetic information swabbed from the noses of smokers, vapers, and non-users of both, researchers found that smoking suppresses the activity of 53 genes involved in the immune system. Vaping also suppressed those 53 immune genes—along with 305 others.

  As I understand, there are still plenty of unknowns related to vaping, but these results are not particularly reassuring to those who would otherwise, as you say, have to put up with them. I doubt first-hand vapers would absorb all of the chemicals causing this effect. Therefore, by extension, it's reasonable to assume that second-hand "vape" would negatively affect others, though most likely to a smaller extent.

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+3
  Interesting=1, Informative=2, Total=3
  Extra 'Informative' Modifier		0
  Total Score:		4