Vaping Crisis Requires Immediate Action

Bernards Township, NJ — September 13, 2019 As of today, a sixth person has died from
vaping-related lung disease. Nationwide, there have been at least 380 cases of lung illness
among people who have used e-cigarette products — devices, liquids, refill pods, or cartridges.
We are in the midst of a health crisis.

Both the Center for Disease Control and the American Lung Association are urging people to
stop the use of e-cigarette products immediately. American Medical Association President Dr.
Patrice Harris is recommending that anyone who has recently used a vaping product and is
showing any respiratory issues should seek medical care. Officials are demanding that the
Food and Drug Administration expedite the regulation of e-cigarette and ban all flavored
products.

In my periodontal practice in Basking Ridge, I advise patients that cigarette smoking and
smokeless tobacco use are associated with immediate and long-term adverse health effects,
including heart disease, cancer, gum disease, and tooth loss.

Emerging studies show that the amount of nicotine delivered by e-cigarettes is greater than
indicated on the label. In fact, the American Chemical Society has found evidence that vaping
raises the level of DNA-damaging compounds in the mouth, increasing the risk of cancer.
There exists a dangerous misunderstanding, particularly among young users, that vaping is
safer than smoking and that vaping cannabis is somehow safer than with nicotine use. New
York State health officials said last week that extremely high levels of the chemical vitamin E
acetate were found in nearly all cannabis-containing vaping products that were analyzed as part
of the investigation. Vitamin E acetate has been found in each vaping-related illness in New
York.

The popularity of vaping among teenagers and young adults makes this issue even more
pressing. Our children have been bombarded with the idea of an allegedly safe — but instead
deadly — new product that comes in flavors ranging from buttered popcorn to bubblegum that
came to prominence amid a dearth of regulation. Our children are in grave danger, and both
manufacturers and regulators are to blame.

I commend the efforts of community organizations such as the Bernards Township Municipal
Alliance Against Substance Abuse, which has been doing youth outreach about the dangers of
vaping for quite some time, and demand — absolutely demand — that public officials step up
their efforts to rid our schools, our communities, and our homes of these dangerous, poisonous
products immediately.

Tobacco lobbying firms have long had a stranglehold on Washington. Tobacco companies
donated $1.5 million to President Trump’s inauguration. In spite of the rhetoric coming from the
current administration stating a need to move forward with a ban on flavored e-cigarettes, this
move is not nearly enough. All vaping products, not just flavored ones, should be banned as
quickly as possible. In fact, tobacco products on the whole, which cause far more deaths than
vaping, should be subject to increased legislation. It’s time the people we elected stand up to
the endlessly deep pockets of the tobacco industry.

And the time is now.

- Sophia Chadda, Democratic candidate for Bernards Township Committee

Paid for by Sophia Chadda for Bernards Township Committee, PO Box 5352, Basking Ridge,
NJ 07920