Tobacco Financial Analysts: Flavored E-Cigarette Ban Will Substantially Boost Cigarette Sales

Due primarily to the CDC's hiding the fact that the overwhelming majority, if not all of the cases of "vaping-associated pulmonary illness (VAPI)" are most likely caused by vaping marijuana, not e-cigarettes, the Trump Administration and the FDA are poised to ban all flavored e-cigarettes.

This obviously makes no sense at all.

The logic is basically: Product X is causing a severe disease outbreak. Product Y is not. So we are going to immediately ban Product Y.

The CDC has taken it a step further. They are essentially warning the public not to use "products," rather than telling them not use Product X.

I have argued that a flavored e-cigarette ban would drive masses of ex-smokers from vaping back to smoking. This prediction now seems to be confirmed by a number of tobacco financial analysts, who are alerting investors that such a ban would substantially boost the sale of cigarettes while decimating the e-cigarette market, which has nearly doubled in the past year. It is predicted that nearly all of the declines in vaping will be translated into cigarette smoking.

The Rest of the Story

This may be the best evidence yet that the FDA's flavored e-cigarette ban will result in a substantial increase in smoking-related morbidity and mortality.

There is no question that there is a direct link between the level of cigarette consumption in the U.S. and the number of smoking-related deaths. If cigarette consumption rises, then so does the number of deaths.

The rest of the story is that the health groups calling for a ban on flavored e-cigarettes are also calling for a dramatic increase in smoking rates and in the number of smoking-related deaths.