As night follows day…

There was a big increase in sales of electronic cigarettes and related products in the US in recent years as their prices fell, according to a HealthDay story citing a federal government study and a NBC news report.
The study, which was published on Thursday in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease found that average monthly sales of such products rose by 132 percent from 2012 to 2017.
During the same period, average monthly prices were said to have decreased ‘significantly’ in 39 states for rechargeables, in 31 states for disposables, in 20 states for pre-filled cartridges, and in eight states for e-liquids.
‘Overall, US e-cigarette unit sales generally increased as product prices decreased,’ wrote the team at the Office on Smoking and Health, part of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In related news, the US Food and Drug Administration officials said on Thursday that the agency was preparing a new product standard for e-cigarettes.
The FDA was said to have a number of concerns about e-cigarettes, ‘including harmful chemicals they might contain and the risk they could get young people addicted to nicotine’.