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Why do opponents of vaping want to suppress or dismiss science?
We need to learn more, not less, about e-cigarettes.
E-cigarettes have fractured the tobacco-control community. Some researchers argue that vaping nicotine saves lives by helping smokers quit. Others say that e-cigarettes are dangerous, especially for young people. The debate is by no means settled.
So you’d think that all involved would welcome more science. Sadly, that’s not so.
Consider, for example, what happened after a debate about conflicts of interest in tobacco science, part of a seminar series organized by academics.
One one side: Joanna Cohen, the Bloomberg Professor of Disease Prevention at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. She argued that journals such as Tobacco Control, where she is an editor, are right in refusing to publish research sponsored by the industry. What’s more, she said, those who work in the industry, including at e-cigarette company Juul, should be prohibited from attending scientific conferences.
“Scientists do not want their journals or their scientific societies to be used in the service of an industry that continues to perpetuate the most deadly disease epidemic of our time,” Cohen said.
