Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken to one of his own news channels to deliver a broadside against flavored vaping products. This diatribe is remarkable for its flagrant contradictions, staggering lack of self-awareness, and complete lack of understanding about harm reduction.Bloomberg warns that the Food and Drug Administration’s recent authorization of flavored vaping products will “prove deadly for kids.” He paints a lurid picture of an America supposedly on the verge of societal collapse, with predatory companies handing out mango-flavored addiction to children on every street corner. The Trump administration and the FDA must reject this prohibitionist theater and help smokers trying to kick their deadly habit. Bloomberg seemingly cannot fathom the simple fact that the problems he describes are the result of the very prohibitionist policies he has spent years funding and promoting around the world.
TOBACCO INDUSTRY MONEY CAUSES MAHA-MAGA RIFT
Bloomberg has reportedly poured $1.6 billion into organizations campaigning against vaping and other safer nicotine products through heavily funded advocacy groups, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and discredited international bodies such as the World Health Organization. An entire industry has emerged dedicated to falsely portraying smoke-free nicotine products as though they are no different from cigarettes. While claiming to fight Big Tobacco, these Bloomberg-funded campaigns have only ended up protecting the cigarette trade.
