It would be paranoid to think that the government was actively trying to destroy small businesses, but this has been a devastating year for small businesses of all sorts thanks to government actions. You might believe that some of those actions were necessary and justified. Even if so, why make it worse?
5 comments:
There was a scare not long ago about people getting serious lung damage from "vaping"--though I gather they were vaping odd substances (oil-based?), not the industry-supplied stuff. That dropped off the front pages, but I wonder if it did its work.
If vaping is less dangerous than smoking-- or say vaping is largely benign when done as advertised -- wouldn't the FDA encourage it as a safe way to quit breathing smoke?
Qui bono here?
"Even if so, why make it worse?"
Because they can? There are a lot of people in DC with not enough to do- hence the eternal chasing after the highest apple left on the tree, AKA the wanton defiance of the Law of Diminishing Returns. (as long as it fits the narrative).
Of course these types of actions also have a very high opportunity cost associated with them. Again, narrative driven- they can only focus on the approved targets, so often the high value low hanging fruit rots on the tree, while every effort is made to pick the highest one.
Since vaping doesn't involve tobacco it means the extremely lucrative taxes on cigarettes and the anti-smoking slush fund provided by tobacco companies are both endangered by its increasing popularity.
As always, follow the money.
A good friend who started vaping to quit cigarettes, had his doctor tell him he'd rather he smoked cigarettes than vape. More toxins in the vaping oils, I guess. Anecdotal, I know.
Some people were making vape cartridges enhanced with THC, and using vitamin E oil as the carrier. That didn't end well. Modified cartridges and smoking units were also the ones that ignited in pockets or exploded, not the as-made-by-manufacturer units.
So, pot's OK, tobacco is bad, and vaping is terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad. I think that's this week's message.
LittleRed1
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