I’m going to call this one the “Stupid Article of the Day” because, honestly, I run across more of these than I care to think about, and I could probably do nothing but repost dumb things other people say about e-cigarettes and make a full-time job out of it. I won’t, or I’d go crazy, but I could.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfYJsQAhl0
Today’s example of questionable journalistic and academic aptitude comes from the New York Daily News. Now, it should be noted that this is the same publication that also features stories on its front page such as “When child stars melt down!” and an expose that some scenes in a reality show featuring a Kardashian were scripted, so anything they have to say is not likely to be taken seriously be anyone — except me, apparently, as will soon become abundantly clear.
The point of ths particular story is that they’ve found some guy who they refer to as a “leading researcher” who believes there is some evidence that some people who attempt to quit smoking with e-cigarettes don’t quit.
“For very heavy smokers, there is some data to suggest they do decrease the number of cigarettes they’re smoking per day, but they are not completely removing cigarettes from their daily pattern of behavior,” he said.
Well, duh! There are people who use every smoking cessation aid on Earth who do exactly the same thing. If “it doesn’t work for everyone on the first try” is the best you can come up with, Poindexter, you’re going to have to try a lot harder.
Who is this academic giant? His name is Dr. Andrew Strasser, and he is, apparently, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The Daily News claims he’s the “resident tobacco products expert at Penn’s Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Nicotine Addiction.”
We have a hard time believing this guy’s an expert at tying his own shoes, when he’s rattling off quotes like this beauty:
“Just replacing some of your daily cigarettes [with e-cigarettes] is not really a harm reduction strategy.”
So, let me get this straight. Not smoking cigarettes that are chock-full of carcinogens, and using e-cigarettes that do not contain them instead, is not harm reduction? Doesn’t “harm reduction” mean doing things like reducing the amount of bad stuff you put in your body… sort of, you know, reducing harm, exactly like you just described? Don’t quit your day job.
Oh my God. This is his day job.
“For very heavy smokers, there is some data to suggest they do decrease the number of cigarettes they’re smoking per day, but they are not completely removing cigarettes from their daily pattern of behavior,” he said.
Stupid Article of the Day: Smoke and Mirrors
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