Mainstream media has transformed from being a platform that brings unbiased news to their audience to a bubble that keeps feeding their audience only what they want to hear in a loop. The more media outlets out there, the more such bubbles in which people thrive. People have stopped looking for facts and news. Instead, they now rely on their favourite news anchors or TV show hosts to give them their version, their opinion, and their take on the facts. One such industry that the mainstream media have pummeled is the vaping industry.

Whether it is because of the word ‘cigarette’ in e-cigarette, the negative perception of nicotine, or something else, the public has a perceptible negative view of the e-cigarettes. In their attempts to appease their audience’s sensibilities, mainstream media and government officials, no matter how unfounded they are in facts, only promote that negative view and have been hounding the vaping industry for decades. It’s time to dispel all of their lies and establish the facts once and for all. So, here are the ten most pathetic lies spread by the mainstream media about vaping.

Vaping Lies media spread

Vaping is as Bad, if not Worse than Smoking

Multiple studies by top researchers worldwide have been unable to link any health complication to vaping. In fact, a long-term study that was conducted by a world-renowned researcher explicitly concluded that vaping causes absolutely no health risks to the vapers. This is the most potent evidence against the never-ending rant that the hypocritical media and politicians keep spewing out against vaping. There are more than 1 billion active smokers worldwide. Among all the remedies that have been suggested for smokers to help quit smoking, e-cigarettes have proven to be the most effective , and that too with a very high success rate. The media and the politicians have a moral responsibility to do everything they can to spread the truth and help those 1 billion people quit their habit. But, no. They instead focus all of their energies on only spreading whatever suits them.

Tobacco companies Control the Vaping Industry

Recent in-depth research conducted by Go Smoke-Free has some interesting facts to share on this topic. The study concluded that only 20% of all the vape brands are owned by the tobacco companies. The remaining 80% of the brands are independently owned by businesses and entrepreneurs who have no association with the tobacco industry. Vaping is a relatively new phenomenon. But, e-cigarettes are definitely not new. They have been here for decades. In 2012, Lorillard purchased Blu, the first purchase of a vape brand by a tobacco company. Today, nine tobacco companies own roughly 20% of all vape brands in the market. So, the market is still in the hands of dedicated vape enthusiast players who are not dancing to the tunes of tobacco companies.

E-cigarettes Pump Toxins into our Bodies

This was a claim originating in the formaldehyde scare in the aftermath of a poorly designed and executed experiment by Portland State University. The researchers, if they can be called that, burned cheap vape coils at temperatures that were beyond anything that is produced in e-cigarettes. The sheer dry hit produced from those high temperatures would have been enough to kill any living person. So naturally, this study has been debunked by their very own peers. Although the study itself gained zero credibility, it did not stop the media from creating breaking news-style headlines out of it.

Vapes use Nicotine which causes Cancer

Nicotine is one of the most badly understood substances in the world. Much of the negative response it generates comes from its active role in the tobacco industry. Here’s the fact. Smokers smoke cigarettes to get a nicotine-induced high. There are no two ways about it – nicotine is the primary ingredient in cigarettes. And, yes, cigarettes do cause cancer. But, it is not nicotine that causes cancer. Cigarettes also contain various carcinogens like tar, ash, carbon monoxide, arsenic, and even formaldehyde, among other harmful chemicals. It is these chemicals that cause terrible health problems among smokers. Non-nicotine.

E-juices that vapers use come with varying levels of nicotine concentration. Many of them don’t even have any nicotine in them. Even the e-juices that do contain nicotine do not pose a danger to vapers. That’s because e-cigarettes do not burn e-juices. Instead, they convert them into vapours. Nicotine is harmless in vapour form. More importantly, nicotine is necessary for ex-smokers to help them quit their habit. They should keep getting their nicotine fix daily to taper the nicotine concentration down to negligible levels slowly and eventually quit nicotine dependency completely.

Vapes Explode and Kill Users

Once the anti-vape brigade realized that its ‘vapes are harmful’ campaign was losing steam due to the lack of solid scientific facts supporting it, they changed their narrative to ‘vapes explode’. The truth is – yes, e-cigarettes do explode from time to time, and that’s mostly because of irresponsible behaviour on part of the vaper and not because of any inherent issue with the e-cigarettes themselves. The instances of e-cigarettes exploding are usually limited to mechanical mod users. When people build their own e-cigarettes, they do not always exercise the same precaution and battery safety level as the certified manufacturers. As a result, due to mishandling of the batteries, their mods do happen to explode sometimes. Even when factory-built e-cigarette users do not exercise proper battery safety tips, there is always the risk of their e-cigarette exploding. Despite this, the number of instances of vape explosions is severely limited. On the other hand, cigarettes are estimated to cause nearly 100,000 fire accidents in one year alone.

Vaping is a Gateway to smoking, drinking, and marijuana

Once again, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that vaping has acted as a gateway to more severe habits. All available evidence points in the other direction that vaping is an exit from more severe habits. Data available from multiple countries indicates that fewer and less fewer of teens are taking up smoking due to widespread awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco. Even when they take up smoking, e-cigarettes act as a powerful alternative to smoking to help smokers quit their habit.

Vape Brands are Targeting Children and catching them young

Did you know that vape brands are prohibited from advertising their products as healthier alternatives to smoking? That’s not all. They are also not allowed to mention any health benefits of vaping or that their products are entirely smoke-free. In other words, vape brands cannot talk about any of the benefits of their products. So, vape brands have no option other than indulging in celebrity and lifestyle advertisements to promote their products. Now, the politicians who banned the vape brands from practically running any other type of ads complain that these brands are using celebrities to promote their products.

They decry that using celebrities like this hooks the children to vaping. But, the mainstream media, who are always happy to bully the vape industry, is all too eager to chime in. They conveniently keep forgetting that children cannot legally purchase any vape products in the market. So, why would any intelligent businessman market their products to people who will never buy those products beyond comprehension.

Vaping will Soon be Banned by Governments

Anyone who claims this has been living under a rock for the past decade or has completely lost their mind. Almost all developed nations have made e-cigarettes a central element of their anti-smoking strategy. Lawmakers are implementing policies to promote vaping among smokers as a way to help them quit their habit. Nicotine-free e-liquids have received government endorsement for years. Now, even the nicotine-containing e-juices are gaining support from wise lawmakers who are becoming more aware of the benefits that e-cigarettes have to offer.

The future is anything but certain. But, the future of the e-cigarette industry is getting brighter with each passing day.

E-Cigs Contain Anti-Freeze

This myth originated when some mad genius accidentally discovered that propylene glycol, a key ingredient in e-liquids, is also present in many brands of anti-freeze. The trigger-happy media was only too eager to lap it all up. Without performing any basic research, the mainstream media started spewing out that e-juices contain anti-freeze. But, what that mad genius who noticed the presence of propylene glycol in e-liquids did not know is that propylene glycol is neither the anti-freeze nor an active ingredient in it. In fact, propylene glycol is added to anti-freeze to make it less harmful if another mad genius accidentally swallows some. But, you can never be too careful. The media saying that anti-freeze is present in e-juices because they contain propylene glycol is as good as saying that you are drinking coffee when you are drinking milk because water is present in both of them. It doesn’t make any sense. But, of course, the media isn’t going to let something as silly as Sense and Logic stop them from perpetuating their anti-vape narrative, now! That isn’t good for their business.

Are you having trouble deciding which e-cigarette is right for you, or do you have a question that isn’t answered here? Call +64 7 925 0904 now to speak to one of our friendly vaping experts.

Updated 27/07/2021