Taming the ‘vape panic’
He is the author of The Art of Suppression, The Spirit Level Delusion and Velvet Glove, Iron Fist.
His work focuses on pleasure, prohibition and dodgy statistics.
Vaping ordinary water-based nicotine-containing liquids did not suddenly become extremely dangerous after having been used safely by millions of people for more than a decade, according to Christopher Snowdon, director of lifestyle economics at the U.K. Institute of Economic Affairs.
Writing in Spiked, Snowdon takes issue with what he describes as “the great American vaping panic” in which American public health activists are spreading unfounded fears about vaping.
While the recent vaping-associated hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. are regrettable, Snowdon points out that in nearly all the cases, the victims had been vaping unregulated street drugs instead of standard vape juices.
Snowdon attributes the panic to “a mendacious coalition of anti-smoking groups, quackademics and government institutions” spreading fear and disinformation.