• Guntrigger@feddit.ch
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    9 months ago

    Everyone here is arguing the benefits of prohibition. I’m just interested to know how much money Rishi (and/or his family members/friends/donors) have invested in vaping and nicotine alternatives.

    • Jojo@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      It always confuses me to learn that when people want to ban smoking it somehow means ban “cigarettes” and not “nicotine”

              • PorkRollWobbly@lemmy.ml
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                9 months ago

                How much did big coffee pay you to make this comment? I bet that link installs covfefe!

              • MonkRome@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                I mean lets not pretend it’s risk free, it raises blood pressure, causes headaches, can trigger arrhythmia in those at risk, etc. As far as drugs go it is probably the least risky, but it’s not like it comes with zero health impacts.

                • Lemminary@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  I don’t think anything is risk-free, including the vital molecules that we need to live. But caffeine has way a longer and significant list of health benefits that offset the risks at even moderate doses. So much so that there’s enough evidence to encourage people to drink more as a prophylaxis. That list includes protection from gallstones, cancers, asthma, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular disease among other thing like a potential aide in weight loss and even a significant performance boost in sports. What’s more, there have been large cohort studies that have found a 3% decreased in risk of developing arrhythmia per daily cup even when controlling for genetics. So the risks shouldn’t be used to discourage or scare people away from a proven benefit when the therapeutic window includes up to 4 cups a day. Would I risk the occasional insomnia, headaches, and temporary increase in blood pressure for all the other positive effects given such a lenient margin? Absolutely.

                  So, really, the public perception that caffeine is somehow dangerous for being labeled a drug is on par with the belief that other substances are inherently dangerous. I think it spills over from the war on drugs, and the delusion of clean eating that often emerges from the dregs of misinformation on the internet and those who perpetuate those beliefs for monetary gain within the wellness communities, ironically enough.

                  • MonkRome@lemmy.world
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                    9 months ago

                    I’ve known people, myself included, that have had negative health impacts from coffee, so that could be biasing my perspective. My father nearly died from heart complications after coffee, I bleed at the exit 100% of the time I drink coffee. I love coffee, but I can’t drink it. There’s probably something genetic that makes my line intolerant. I know people that end up in a migraine caffeine withdrawal cycle on a regular basis. Obviously these are person specific, so you really just need to know your body and act accordingly.

              • random65837@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                Correction, caffeine (can) be good for you, but in normal amounts and it has diminishing returns. That’s not how most consume it. Most outright abuse it. It should never be illegal, but it being pushed as “healthy” is also a stretch.

                • Lemminary@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  but it being pushed as “healthy” is also a stretch

                  With so many health benefits and mild side effects, it’s hard to say that it’s unhealthy when it protects you from various serious conditions. It can most definitely be part of a healthy diet.

                  However, the amount regularly consumed by US adults on average is 135 mg or 1.5 cups, which is well below the maximum recommended dose of 400 mg or 4 cups of coffee per day, which is in itself a conservative estimate as with all official guidances. To put that into perspective, but by no means to compare it with long-term consumption, you’d need to drink about 10 g in 100 cups in one sitting to reach toxic levels.

                  Surprisingly enough, and just to entertain the idea, there are some instances of increasing returns from a higher caffeine intake. A modest calorie burn for weight loss from caffeine would require 6 cups on average, which–although a large amount and not generally recommended–is still clinically safe to consume. An increased intake is also associated with a lower risk of gallstones. Even the American College of Cardiology has published a note encouraging users to drink more than the average nationwide to reap the benefits. Other sources put that number at 3 cups daily. And although moderate drinkers of 3-5 cups per day show a 15% reduction of cardiovascular disease, heavy drinkers of 6 cups or more per day are neither associated with an increase nor decreased risk. I even remember reading at some point that heavier users become more resilient to caffeine’s cardiovascular effects than casual drinkers but my Google-fu was not strong enough to recover the source but I’ll edit if I stumble across it.

                  So there you have it. The window of what’s considered a low risk or healthy intake of caffeine is much wider than what’s generally expected. In fact, it can be used and it’s recommended as a prophylaxis for certain conditions without a significant tradeoff in healthy adults, and there’s plenty of evidence to support that.

                  And no, this wasn’t paid by big coffee, but if you know that they’re hiring, send them my info.

      • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Well what’s wrong with nicotine? In itself it’s not worse than booze. It’s all the other crap they add that makes it so terrible

        • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          Hi from the depths of a nicotine addiction and struggling to quit. Its a worthless chemical that gets more expensive everyday and my brain SCREAMS at me for a fix if I try to go more than even a few hours. At least heroin gets you high.

          • HikingVet@lemmy.sdf.org
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            9 months ago

            And even when you break free for the most part the chemical which is classified as a poison will make you crave it years later.

          • MisterFrog@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Stay strong on your recovery friend 💪

            Thank you for your comment, this is always my biggest beef with those defending nicotine (smoking/vaping).

            It’s like, WHAT DO YOU EVEN GAIN FROM IT?

            • random65837@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Google is your friend, lot of positives with Nictotine, Nicotine and Cigarettes aren’t locked together.

          • random65837@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Far from a “Worthless chemical”, mainly because it literally isn’t, it’s a naturally occurring plant substance. That has a lot of benefits behind it when not abused, there are Altzheimers drugs being developed based on Nicotine because of it’s Nootropic ability and can keep people lucid.

            You’re doing what most do and conflating Nicotine with Smoking. They’re not the same thing. Nicotine promotes alertness, relaxation, helps indirectly with weight loss from appetite suppression, athletic performance etc. The laundry list of negative from cigarettes don’t negate that.

            • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
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              9 months ago

              I’m still very addicted to nicotine cessation products, despite a large drop in strength. I quit smoking months ago. Thanks

              • random65837@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                I dont’ doubt that, but you’re coming from smoking, which is very different than those using it otherwise as far as dependence. In your case, the nicotine lets you work on breaking the oral habit of continuing to smoke, but ultimately at some point you’ll still have to fight the nicotine addiction, but the smoking addiction will be gone. Most that just use the gum never get addicted to it. They should definitely make fractional doses for making that easier, but realistically chopping one in half and mixing it with another like flavored gum accomplishes that.

                But to my point, cigarettes and smoking aside, Nicotine does have benefits either way. I use it as an addon to my preworkout as caffeine does zero for my energy. Been doing it for years, I can stop whenever I want, have a bunch of times, but haven’t found a cure for the energy end, and I like that stimulant feel. I’ve actually gone last week without any of it, mainly for money, but miss the bump, not sure if I’ll go back or not, wallet says not to. If the generic gum didn’t suck I’d just do that, but since Nicorette actually tastes like real gum… I dunno. My fahter in law who seems to be getting the possible start of Altheimers stays on top of shit with it, without it he’s a forgetful mess that constantly zones out.

          • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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            9 months ago

            I suspect your struggle comes mostly from the habits, rather than the chemicals involved? I’ve known a number of cigar addicts that managed to quit, they often said that the hardest part was avoiding it after an activity, like a cigar after a cup of coffe, a cigar after a meal, etc. Being allowed cigar breaks during work also encourages use, since it’s a “free pause”

            • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
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              9 months ago

              You don’t have any fucking idea what your talking about. I stopped smoking cigarettes 2 months ago and switched to tobacco free pouches. I have been tapering down from 6 mg to 4 to now 2. And here’s a good tip, especially when talking about addiction. You don’t get a say in anyone else’s experience amd diminishing another persons struggle makes you look like a real jackass, especially considering you have no experience of your own. I can tell because if you did you wouldn’t be spouting this bullshit

        • Goblin_Mode@ttrpg.network
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          9 months ago

          I mean I’m no expert but I do have some knowledge on the subject.

          The difference is how you injest it. Our stomachs are much more resilient than our lungs. Your stomach is, for all intents and purposes, a sac of acid that dissolves mostly anything you put in it, your lungs on the other hand literally only do 1 thing all day and it’s breathe air. There are different qualities of air of course, and microparticles in it that could cause harm, but on the whole it’s more or less all the same.

          Its like dumping garbage into a sink vs. a paper bag. The sink will get disgusting, and you may end up with a clogged drain, messed up pipes, or worse. But at the end of the day if you just clean the mess and don’t do it too often it will probably be fine. The paper bag on the other hand is gonna get Soggy, gross, and start falling apart in your hands. You can dry it out but it will never quite be the same…

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        In the US it’s the opposite, which is absolutely bizarro land. Want to ban vapes but not cigarettes.

          • Plopp@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            If it’s not too harmful - what’s the problem with being addicted? I’m addicted to coffee and drink at least two cups per day, as do most people around here.

            • Goo_bubbs@lemmings.world
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              9 months ago

              Nobody out there is just buying Nicotine gum for the flavor. The overwhelming majority are struggling with an addiction that may one day kill them.

              Also, as a former smoker of over 20 years as well as a current coffee addict, I can tell you from personal experience that there is no comparison between the two. Some substances are simply more addictive than others. Nicotine is one of the worst on the planet.

          • Dudewitbow@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            If addiction is a problem, should the general use of caffine be banned then? Thats why its kinda odd to specifically ban nicotine.

            Choosing to ban specifically nicotine and not caffine is as silly as the idea that cigarettes should be legal but weed shouldnt.

          • Nobsi@feddit.de
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            9 months ago

            The addicting part isnt the nicotine. Its everything atound it. The ritual, the friends the “doing something with your hands”.
            The psychological addiction is way stronger than the nicotine addiction that you can just overcome in 2 weeks.

        • Jojo@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          The full effects of vaping are not well understood, and while they’re almost certainly not as bad as cigarettes, they’re also almost certainly still bad for you, and they are indeed still addictive for the same reasons as cigarettes because they still use nicotine.

          Further, one main reason their risks remain as poorly understood as they do is that (again, because of the same active ingredient) people who vape often also use cigarettes. The two are closely linked, I don’t think my confusion should be so easily dismissed as that.

          • Chetzemoka@startrek.website
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            9 months ago

            Oh sorry, I was thinking nicotine supplements like gum and patches. In my mind, smoking and vaping are the same thing. “Don’t inhale particulate matter of any kind” is an excellent rule of thumb for all humans in all situations

            • Jojo@lemm.ee
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              9 months ago

              Exactly my point. It always throws me for a minute when I realize people are treating them so separately.

      • uis@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Because probably it was defined as burning, not usage of nicotine

        • Jojo@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          But why? The full effects of vaping are not well understood, and while they’re almost certainly not as bad as cigarettes, they’re also almost certainly still bad for you, and they are indeed still addictive for the same reasons as cigarettes. Further, one main reason their risks remain as poorly understood as they do is that (again, because of the same active ingredient) people who vape often also use cigarettes. The two are closely linked, I don’t think my confusion should be so easily dismissed as that.

          • Plopp@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Banning nicotine would be going too far. Nicotine in and of itself isn’t that bad, it’s the delivery methods that can be problematic. In particular the ones where you inhale things into your lungs. But there are smokeless tobacco and there are types of tobacco smoking where you don’t inhale the smoke.

            • BluesF@feddit.uk
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              9 months ago

              Who would want other nicotine options without cigarettes or vaping? No one is starting out with nicorette.

              • V H@lemmy.stad.social
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                9 months ago

                I tried to start with both a patch and gums years ago because of the stimulant benefits and the decent risk profile of nicotine on its own. I’ve never smoked, never will. Didn’t stick - it was too hard to get used to. If I could get it as a flavourless pill, maybe.

              • Plopp@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                Many people. There are many different tobacco products that either are smokeless or that you don’t inhale that are common in different areas, like dip, snus, snuff, cigars, pipes and what have you. In some regions those are what people start using nicotine with.

              • PainInTheAES@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                Actually I started with nicorette because of nootropics blogs and nasal snuff. I’ve only ever smoked 1 cigarette although I did partake in some hookah.

              • Plopp@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                Psychoactive poison. Great argument there. List the negative effects of nicotine itself that you think are so bad that they require a ban instead of the problematic delivery methods.

              • V H@lemmy.stad.social
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                9 months ago

                It’s “psychoactive” in the same way that caffeine is. That is, it’s a stimulant. Using that term only serves the purpose of making it sound scarier. And it’s far less addictive on its own than when smoked. It’s not harmless, but it’s also nowhere near as big a problem in itself as specific product categories and delivery methods, and no worse than any number of other things we’re perfectly fine with people using.

      • V H@lemmy.stad.social
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        9 months ago

        Nicotine is one of the safest stimulants we know, up there with caffeine in terms of safety. There’s little meaningful reason to ban nicotine. You’re more likely to harm yourself with any number of other things we readily allow.

        The addiction potential of nicotine alone is also far lower than people assume, because smoking is highly addictive both due to the rituals and the other substances involved. I tried to get used to nicotine via patches years back to use as a safe stimulant, and not only did I not get addicted, I couldn’t get used to it (and I was not willing to get myself used to smoking, given the harm that involves). That’s not to say you can’t develop addictions to patches or vapes etc. too, but much more easily when it’s as a substitution for smoking than “from scratch”.

        Restrictions on delivery methods that are harmful or not well enough understood, and combining nicotine with other substances that make the addiction and harm potential greater, sure.

        • affiliate@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Nicotine is one of the safest stimulants we know, up there with caffeine in terms of safety. There’s little meaningful reason to ban nicotine.

          this is from a 2015 article i found on the NIH library:

          Nicotine poses several health hazards. There is an increased risk of cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal disorders. There is decreased immune response and it also poses ill impacts on the reproductive health. It affects the cell proliferation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, DNA mutation by various mechanisms which leads to cancer. It also affects the tumor proliferation and metastasis and causes resistance to chemo and radio therapeutic agents. The use of nicotine needs regulation. The sale of nicotine should be under supervision of trained medical personnel.

          source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4363846/

          in case you think i might be cherry picking, here’s something from johns hopkins, and here’s a source from the cdc. here’s something recent from harvard for good measure.

          edit: i should be clear that the other sources don’t say exactly the same things as the NIH one, but they do talk about how nicotine itself is very addictive, and they talk about some of the harm it can cause

          • V H@lemmy.stad.social
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            9 months ago

            The links from John Hopkins, the CDC and Harvard all focus on vaping, and so are irrelevant to the question of nicotine rather than the delivery methods.

            The first link has nothing wrong in it. It’s correct nicotine is toxic. So is caffeine - the LD50 of caffeine in humans is reasonably high, many grams. To the issue of ingestion, the issue is toxicity at doses people are likely to deal with.

            To the cancer links, again without looking at delivery methods, this is meaningless. To let me quote one small part:

            Thus, the induced activation of nAChRs in lung and other tissues by nicotine can promote carcinogenesis by causing DNA mutations[26] Through its tumor promoter effects, it acts synergistically with other carcinogens from automobile exhausts or wood burning and potentially shorten the induction period of cancers[43] [Table 2].

            This makes sense. Don’t inhale lots of particulates combined with nicotine in other words. There are also many other parts of the article that are useful. E.g. it’s perfectly reasonable to accept that e.g. if you are on chemo you should stay off nicotine, and if you breastfeed you should stay off nicotine.

            What the article does not show is that nicotine, as opposed to delivery methods like inhalation, is much worse than other drugs we’re perfectly fine with.

            I’ll note that the article also includes things in its conclusion that it has categorically not cites studies in support of. E.g. it just assumes the addiction potential is proven (it is, but putting that in the conclusion of a paper without citing sources is really poor form, especially in a paper claiming to set out the issues with nicotine in isolation rather than smoking).

            It also tried to drive up the scare factor by pointing out its toxicity at doses irrelevant for human consumption (e.g. as an insecticide; if wildly irrelevant doses should be considered, then we could write the same paper about how apples should be banned because they contain cyanide).

            The “Materials and methods” section also goes on to say “Studies that evaluated tobacco use and smoking were excluded” but then goes on to make multiple arguments on the basis of harm caused by smoking (e.g. “Nicotine plays a role in the development of emphysema in smokers, by decreasing elastin in the lung parenchyma and increasing the alveolar volume”) and cites a paper focused on smoking, in direct contradiction of the claim they made (“Endoh K, Leung FW. Effects of smoking and nicotine on the gastric mucosa: A review of clinical and experimental evidence. Gastroenterology. 1994;107:864–78.”)

            So, yes, if you make claims about how you’re going to address nicotine rather than smoking, and then go on to address smoking and other means of inhalation intermingled with the rest, and if you leap to conclusions you’ve not cited works in support of, and if you throw out risks without linking them causally to nicotine, you can make nicotine look very bad.

            They also end with subjective statements they’ve not even attempted to support properly. E.g. they’ve gone from “here is why it’s dangerous” to “it should be restricted”, but if that was valid logic, we should restrict sales of apples too, most cleaning agents, all caffeinated products, housepaint, paint thinners, and a host of other things, it’s a specious argument and fitting that such a badly argued paper ends with it. That this passed peer review is an incredible indictment of the journal which published it.

            That doesn’t mean nicotine is risk-free, but compared to other things we’re happy to ingest, I stand by my statement. But don’t inhale it.

            • affiliate@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              The links from John Hopkins, the CDC and Harvard all focus on vaping, and so are irrelevant to the question of nicotine rather than the delivery methods.

              they do focus on vaping, that does not mean they are irrelevant to the question of nicotine. from the cdc link:

              Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm adolescent brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s.

              there are also sections of that page titled “Why Is Nicotine Unsafe for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults?” and “How Does Nicotine Addiction Affect Youth Mental Health?” that focus only on nicotine.

              from the harvard article:

              Nicotine is highly addictive and can affect the developing brain, potentially harming teens and young adults.

              from johns hopkins:

              Nicotine is the primary agent in regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and it is highly addictive. It causes you to crave a smoke and suffer withdrawal symptoms if you ignore the craving. Nicotine is a toxic substance. It raises your blood pressure and spikes your adrenaline, which increases your heart rate and the likelihood of having a heart attack.

              Both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes contain nicotine, which research suggests may be as addictive as heroin and cocaine.

              to your second point

              To the cancer links, again without looking at delivery methods, this is meaningless.

              i agree that it would be better to focus only on nicotine. i disagree that ignoring delivery methods is “meaningless”. form the johns hopkins article:

              And, getting hooked on nicotine often leads to using traditional tobacco products down the road.

              this is only to say that the cancer bit is not irrelevant.

              This makes sense. Don’t inhale lots of particulates combined with nicotine in other words.

              the part you quoted says that nicotine acts as an accelerator for the development of cancers from other sources, including things like car exhaust. these carcinogens are widespread in the modern world, so accelerating the development of cancer associated with them is a bad thing. eg, car exhaust fumes are everywhere.

              I’ll note that the article also includes things in its conclusion that it has categorically not cites studies in support of.

              i agree, this is bad. the problem you brought up with the “materials and methods” section is also bad. i’m not trying to defend the article holistically, i’m even particularly attached to that source (which is why i included a few different ones). the only reason i picked that article was that it explains some of the harmful effects of nicotine, and then backs them with citations. the article did this by reviewing “90 relevant articles” from PubMed and Medline, then discussing what those articles found - and these are the parts of the article i was interested in. i probably wouldn’t use this approach if i were writing an academic paper on the subject, but i think it’s fine for arguing on the internet that nicotine isn’t “one of the safest stimulants we know”. (i also included a few different sources to counteract the limitations of this approach.)

              That doesn’t mean nicotine is risk-free, but compared to other things we’re happy to ingest, I stand by my statement.

              your statements were

              Nicotine is one of the safest stimulants we know, up there with caffeine in terms of safety.

              and

              The addiction potential of nicotine alone is also far lower than people assume,

              i think the second statement was thoroughly debunked by the sources i’ve included: they all say nicotine is highly addictive, and one of them says it’s “as addictive as heroin and cocaine”. i think the sources i’ve shared also discredit the idea that nicotine is “up there with caffeine in terms of safety”. i’m not trying to say nicotine is extremely dangerous, but rather that its danger is underestimated.

              • V H@lemmy.stad.social
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                9 months ago

                they do focus on vaping, that does not mean they are irrelevant to the question of nicotine. from the cdc link:

                To this and your subsequent points, these claims are not backed up by sources in the pages you linked to, and as we’ve seen from the other paper as well, there’s good reason to be cautious about assuming their claims are separating the effects of nicotine from the effects of the delivery method, especially given every single source actually cited by the CDC article is about smoking. Neither the Johns Hopkins or Harvard article cites any sources on nicotine alone that I can see.

                i disagree that ignoring delivery methods is “meaningless”. form the johns hopkins article:

                And, getting hooked on nicotine often leads to using traditional tobacco products down the road.

                A claim that is not backed by sources, and has divorced this from delivery method. E.g. how many people starts with gum or a patch and goes on to tobacco? I can certainly see there being some transfer from vaping to tobacco, but that is very different from the blanket claim and illustrates the problem with these sources that fail to disambiguate and extrapolates very wide claim from sources that looks at specific modes of use.

                the part you quoted says that nicotine acts as an accelerator for the development of cancers from other sources, including things like car exhaust. these carcinogens are widespread in the modern world, so accelerating the development of cancer associated with them is a bad thing. eg, car exhaust fumes are everywhere.

                Yes, inhaling nicotine is bad. That we can agree on, and the source supports the limited claim that if you get nicotine in a way that binds to cites in your lungs, that is bad. The sources do not provide evidence that this risk is present for other modes of use. Maybe it is, but they’ve not shown that.

                i agree, this is bad. the problem you brought up with the “materials and methods” section is also bad. i’m not trying to defend the article holistically, i’m even particularly attached to that source (which is why i included a few different ones).

                But that article is the best of the sources you gave. The others cite nothing of relevance to the claim I made that I can see after going through their links.

                the article did this by reviewing “90 relevant articles” from PubMed and Medline, then discussing what those articles found

                But the problem is that not nearly all of those “90 relevant articles” are relevant to their claim, and so they start off by misrepresenting what they’re about to do. They then fail to quantify their claim in any way that supports their conclusion. They back up some specific claims without quantifying them (e.g. I can back up the claim that apples can be lethal, but you’d need vast quantities to get enough cyanide from an apple to harm you, so a claim they can be lethal in isolation is meaningless) or unpacking whether they are risks from nicotine in general, or nicotine via a specific delivery method. This is an ongoing problem with research on this subject.

                They have not provided an argument for how any of those “90 relevant articles” supports their conclusion.

                i think the second statement was thoroughly debunked by the sources i’ve included: they all say nicotine is highly addictive, and one of them says it’s “as addictive as heroin and cocaine”. i think the sources i’ve shared also discredit the idea that nicotine is “up there with caffeine in terms of safety”. i’m not trying to say nicotine is extremely dangerous, but rather that its danger is underestimated.

                The say that, but they don’t back it up. Ironically, pointing to heroin is interesting, because the addiction potential of heroin has also been subject to a lot of fearmongering and notoriously exaggerated, and we’ve known this for nearly half a century – a seminal study of addiction in Vietnam war vets found the vast majority of those with extensive heroin use in Vietnam just stopped cold turkey when they returned to the US and the vast majority didn’t relapse, the opposite of what the authors assumed going into the study. A study that was commissioned as part of Nixons then-newly started politically motivated and racist War of Drugs with the intent of providing evidence of how bad it was.

                (see https://www.mayooshin.com/heroin-vietnam-war-veterans-addiction which gives a reasonable account of Robins study, and gives full reference to the paper)

                That’s also not to say that heroin isn’t dangerous or seriously addictive because it is. Nobody should use heroin. But it’s also frequently used as a means of exaggerating by implication because peoples idea of the addiction potential of heroin is largely way out of whack with reality and heavily context-dependent. So when someone drags out a heroin comparison without heavy caveats, that’s reason to assume there is a good chance they’re full of bullshit.

                In other words: It’s perfectly possible that some ways of taking nicotine can be as addictive as heroin, but that doesn’t tell us what most people think it does. E.g. UK hospitals sometimes use heroin (as diamorphine; its generic name) for post-op pain management because it’s far better than many alternatives.

                The sources you’ve given do not present any support for claims that nicotine considered separate from delivery methods is particularly risky. They do provide support for claims it’s dangerous when smoked, and possibly dangerous when inhaled even via vaping, and the takeaway that you should generally avoid inhaling stuff other than clean air without good reason is good. The other claims about nicotine in general do not appear to be backed up at all.

                i’m not trying to say nicotine is extremely dangerous, but rather that its danger is underestimated.

                I find the notion that the danger is underestimated hilarious when one of the claims used a comparison with heroin to fearmonger.

                Your source, if anything, is evidence to me of the opposite.

              • V H@lemmy.stad.social
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                9 months ago

                “I haven’t read this, but let me misrepresent what the thing I didn’t read says”.

                I have not argued it isn’t unhealthy. I have argued it’s one of the safer stimulants we have, unless you ingest it in a way that is dangerous (e.g. inhalation). That does not mean it’s free of downsides, but neither are a whole lot of things we still decide it’s fine to use.

                Next time maybe try abstaining from replying to something you’ve not bothered to read.

                • SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org
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                  9 months ago

                  You just confirmed what I said. “One of the safest”

                  And yeah you wrote way more shit than you should ever expect people to read. Maybe abstain from writing 10,000 words ever but especially if you’re wrong

                  • V H@lemmy.stad.social
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                    9 months ago

                    No, you made the false claim that I said it isn’t unhealthy. “One of the safest” is not the same as “isn’t unhealthy”.

                    If you can’t be bothered to read my ~600 words in reply to someone else and not directed at you, that is entirely your choice. Nobody is forcing you to. Neither are anyone forcing you to blatantly misrepresent what I’ve claimed, however.

        • JWBananas@startrek.website
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          9 months ago

          I tried to get used to nicotine via patches years back to use as a safe stimulant, and not only did I not get addicted, I couldn’t get used to it

          Well of course not. You weren’t getting the dopamine rush of a large acute dose rushing from your lungs directly to your brain in a matter of seconds.

          What the heck kind of hot take is this?

          Regardless, the dangers – including ease of addiction – are well-known and are scientifically proven. Your anecdata of one does not change that.

          • V H@lemmy.stad.social
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            9 months ago

            Well of course not. You weren’t getting the dopamine rush of a large acute dose rushing from your lungs directly to your brain in a matter of seconds.

            So in other words, you’re saying I didn’t pick the right delivery method to get me addicted. Which was my point.

            Regardless, the dangers – including ease of addiction – are well-known and are scientifically proven. Your anecdata of one does not change that.

            Missing the point: 1) a large part of the addiction for most people is down to delivery, not nicotine itself - something you yourself used as an argument against my anecdote above -, and most of the research focuses on that. 2) the remaining addiction potential of nicotine is real, and proven, but it’s also nothing particularly special compared to other things we’re fine with seeing the addiction to as ranging from a nuisance (e.g. caffeine) to a problem that doesn’t justify prohibition (any more), like alcohol.

            My point was not that it’s impossible to get addicted to nicotine, but that confusing nicotine vs. nicotine via a given delivery method is not helpful.

      • uis@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        You can go EU-way and say that all vapes should be rechargable(in both meanings), repairable and intercompatible. Basically opposite of what Big Tabacco does.

        • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Disposable vapes should be banned.

          Though even the reusable ones generate a decent amount of waste between coil assemblies that get replaced and the plastic bottles the juice comes in. I mean, I hope we eventually get to managing waste at that level, though I’m not holding my breath since it would require huge changes to the way we handle food logistics, which eclipses vape juice waste by a lot per person.

          But the disposable ones are ridiculous.

          • Dontfearthereaper123@lemm.ee
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            9 months ago

            You can build your own coils and mix your own liquid. Me and my mate both do it it’s far cheaper and better for the environment, not too hard either once uve learnt the basics of materials and ohms n all.

            • uis@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              You can build your own coils

              But you cannot use them in disposable shit. Selling and producing disposable shit should be banned.

              Glycerin costs 2.5$ for 1 liter bottle. And food flavoring about 6-10$ for 0.1 liter bottle.

              • Dontfearthereaper123@lemm.ee
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                9 months ago

                Disposables could have a use assuming they were more like pods but made from biodegradable materials that are sustainably sources I,e wood or something but that wouldnt solve the coke bottles everywhere and those r worse. The problem isn’t smoking or vaping and it never was the problem is companies knowing they could get away with not being ecologically responsible and by putting the blame on disposables bring used, all you do is help them shift the blame away.

                • uis@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  but made from biodegradable materials that are sustainably sources

                  Greenwashing.

                  • Dontfearthereaper123@lemm.ee
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                    9 months ago

                    Is that like a play on words for brain washing? I’ve made ecigs from wood i’'ve cut myself the only downside I’ve noticed is if the wood gets wet but for disposables that would matter less.

        • PyroNeurosis@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Halp! I have no idea how to recharge my cigar! Beyond that, i really have no idea how Big Tobacco would comply with these regulations.

          • uis@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            At all or while making insane profit and producing a lot of waste? At all simple: just look how vapes looked like before Big Tabacco came and enshittified them.

    • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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      9 months ago

      That isn’t always the case though. Just look at climate scientists.

      Some just want to ban smoking because they see how much damage it has done in their community.

      But I’d also like to know if there was any vested interests.

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        9 months ago

        I’m not sure what this has to do with climate scientists. What am I supposed to be looking at?

        Rishi has a history of making legislation to benefit the companies run or owned by friends and family. I would be extremely surprised if this didn’t also have a similar angle.

        • ours@lemmy.film
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          9 months ago

          Just some good old “whataboutism”. Maybe he sprinkles some climate-change denial into some prohibition discussion to distract us?

        • SCB@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Climate activists want to, among other things, pass extremely unpopular carbon taxes as they’re the most serious effort toward cutting fossil fuels usage

          Extremely unpopular ideas that inevitably favor certain products are not always moves to sell those products, is the point

          It’s pretty reasonable to assume no one outside the UK knows much about Sunak’s history with handouts to friends.

          • Risk@feddit.uk
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            9 months ago

            Who are carbon taxes unpopular with? Aside from politicians?

              • HikingVet@lemmy.sdf.org
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                9 months ago

                People who don’t understand we need to break our addiction to petroleum based fuel. Also People who make money off of petroleum based products.

                • WhiteHawk@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  I think you overestimate the size of these two groups. The group of people who care more about their own financials is likely a lot larger.

              • Spzi@lemm.ee
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                9 months ago

                That’s a matter of proper implementation. Tax & dividend! Distribute the tax revenue to the population per capita.

                That means:

                • If your emissions are average, you pay/earn net zero.
                • If you emit more than average, you pay. This will affect mostly rich people, since emissions strongly correlate with available money.
                • If you emit less than average, you net earn. This effectively rewards people with money gained for emissions prevented.

                Since money is distributed unequally in society, this means most people will have to pay less in such a system.

                The beautiful thing is, the financial incentive to emit less remains even for people who gain more than they pay. It’s also an incentive both for buyers and sellers, researchers and investors.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        It’s Rishi Sunak. Of course he has a financial interest somewhere.

        It won’t work, though. Hell. He might be getting paid off by big Tabacco- make smoking edgy and rebellious again so more kids start up.

        It’s the kind of thing those ghouls would try.

      • Lazylazycat@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Rishi Sunak also just promised to ensure cars will be able to drive through heavily populated areas indefinitely and has pushed back plans to introduce electric-only cars. He absolutely does not care about peoples’ health.