Vaping saves lives — vape ’em if ya got ’em! (Opinion)

Seriously, don’t go back to smoking cigarettes if you quit smoking to vape. There’s a lot of misinformation about vaping that is being pushed by health officials as they conflate the negative impact of homemade cartridges and black market e-cigs with the safe, nicotine controlled vaping products available at local retailers throughout the Garden State.

The push to ban vaping picked up steam as another person supposedly died from a vaping related illness. No matter that the total reported nationwide is 14 compared to 480,000 from tobacco related illness, no matter that there are an estimated 35 million people vaping in the world expected to be 55 million by 2021, and no matter that millions switched to vaping to quit smoking. Typical useless, panicky reaction from pols ... ban it!

As far as flavors being bad for kids? No evidence at all! 28.4% reduction in teen smoking year over year is huge progress.

What’s funny about the push from the president to the governor to ban ‘flavored’ products because, well, “think of the children," has it has no basis in facts. What ‘flavor’ hooked the kids on smoking in the first place? Tobacco. I don’t recall the cigarettes having grape soda flavor.

A leading doc joined me on the show to defend vaping as an alternative to smoking cigarettes. Top doc Robert Klein is an expert with the Federalist Society Regulatory Transparency Project. He’s a former HHS advisor for the FDA and CDC. #VapingSavesLives

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea. The opinions expressed here are solely those of Bill Spadea.

More from New Jersey 101.5: