1970-2022 Published!
Op-eds, interviews, quotes & more.
"Kind words are a creative force, a power that concurs in the building up of all that is good, and energy that showers blessings upon the world."
—Lawrence G. Lovasik
This archive of thoughts I’ve planted is listed in reverse chronological order. You’re reading the edition covering everything through 2022. Separate editions cover 2023 and 2024.
Op-Eds
2022
Townhall December 7, 2022, Too Much Fluff Over Flavors. “No one is accusing candy-flavored adult products of marketing to children until the topic of tobacco harm reduction products (THR) enters the conversation. The irony is there are countless examples of suggestions to use candy to help adults quit smoking. The American Cancer Society (ACS), American Lung Association (ALA), American Heart Association (AHA), Truth Initiative, and the pharmaceutical industry all endorse candy or candy flavors for smoking cessation.”
Filter December 5, 2022, Small Vape Shops Save Lives. Many Communities Are Losing Them. “Being a vape shop owner became increasingly frustrating. I watched moral panic, misinformation, and overly burdensome regulations erode my ability to help adults quit smoking. The public is not informed about the risk continuum among nicotine products—leaving adults who smoke convinced that vaping is equally or more harmful than smoking, and destroying the chance of them trying a safer alternative.”
DC Journal November 29, 2022, American Cancer Society Should Fight Cancer, Not Vaping. “Strangely, during the push to quit smoking, there is no support for using safer alternatives for those who cannot give up smoking. Not only is there no mention of these known safer alternatives, but there is a misinformation campaign to discourage the use of safer alternatives.”
TPA November 16, 2022, ‘Tis the Season to Talk About Smoking! “More than two-thirds of people with ADHD have multiple challenges. Common comorbidities range from autism and anxiety, to learning disabilities and substance abuse. Nearly 40 percent of people living with ADHD smoke. These adults start smoking at an earlier age, smoke more heavily, experience difficulty in quitting smoking, and often struggle to maintain abstinence from smoking. Nearly twice as many children with ADHD initiate smoking compared to children without ADHD.”
Townhall September 17, 2022, The Tragic Combination of Smoking, Cancer, and Suicide. “Cancer causes physical, emotional, and financial burdens on patients and their loved ones. And, a cancer diagnosis can lead to other causes of death outside of the potential to die from cancer. For example, the risk of cancer patients dying from suicide is four times that of the general population, with lung cancer patients belonging to the group with the highest risk. In 2020, suicide was the twelfth leading cause of death in the United States, resulting in 45,979 deaths. Nearly twice the number than those that died from homicide.”
Inside Sources September 9, 2022, Op-Ed: Misinformation is deadly for people trying to quit smoking. “Information about nicotine is a priority when healthcare providers interact with people who smoke. In a recent survey of physicians, 80 percent incorrectly believed that nicotine causes cancer, cardiovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Another survey found that nearly 60 percent of nurses falsely believe that nicotine causes cancer. Misinformation could lead to inaccurate recommendations and failure to capitalize on teachable moments when talking to patients.”
Inside Sources June 27, 2022, The Road to Quitting Smoking Is Paved With Candy. “For example, while the PEZ Candy is commonly associated with plastic tubes and cartoon characters, the quirky candy has a history of helping people with smoking cessation. In fact, the maker of the candy, Austrian Eduard Haas III, invented PEZ candy in the 1920s as an alternative to smoking. This well-known treat has been sold in the United States since 1952.”
The Center Square June 1, 2022, Op-Ed: Celebrating businesses that have helped reduce the tobacco burden. “Society has a secret tool in its toolbox to help people stop smoking. It’s sold in their local vape shops. Unfortunately, there’s been a lot of pushback against this new technology and it’s slowing the ability to help more people stop smoking. Contrary to the idea that e-cigarettes are a new tool by Big Tobacco, vape shops are frequently owned by people who have been using these products to quit smoking and want to do the same for others.”
AIER May 11, 2022, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: The Case for Compromise. “Adults who smoke have demonstrated they can quit smoking when provided the right tools. For many, flavored vaping products have been the tool they’ve needed. Most people who smoke don’t want to be reminded of the taste of a cigarette as they try to break free from smoking. They need the flavors to assist them in the transition away from the thing that might kill them.”
The Center Square April 21, 2022, Op-Ed: Health misinformation can be deadly. “Unfortunately, too many people mistakenly believe that the most dangerous thing about smoking is nicotine. Marginalized communities have the highest prevalence of smoking and, as a result, they suffer the greatest health inequities. Many falsely believe that nicotine causes cancer. When people who smoke perceive nicotine replacement therapy or nicotine vapor products to be as harmful or more harmful than smoking, they are less likely to use less harmful products when attempting to quit smoking.”
2017
DL-Online June 20, 2017, Letter: Vaping can help people quit smoking. “If the two opposing sides worked together, I wonder how many more lives could be saved?”
Interviews
2022
Filter January 5, 2022, Popular Advocate Forced to Close Her Small-Town Vape Shop. “But I kept hoping that something—something—would change. I was holding out hope that the world would come to its senses.”
Quoted/Mentioned
2022
ConscienHealth November 13, 2022 False Comparisons of Smoking and Obesity. “Using anti-tobacco strategies makes me uncomfortable. Because part of that strategy was to stigmatize people who smoke, to motivate them to quit smoking. While that worked for many rich, white people, it didn’t work so well with the groups who are now the folks with the highest rates of smoking.”
Tobacco Reporter September 1, 2022, A GTNF panel puts “forgotten smokers” in the spotlight. ‘Skip Murray used to be one of the forgotten smokers. “I think people that have a life like my background are invisible to the people who have more influence in the world,” she says. “I hate to use class terms, but lower class.” Heavy drinking and mental illness ran in her family. Her memories include events psychologists would call “adverse childhood experiences.” '
Vapor Voice July 19, 2022, Vaping Misinformation and Disinformation Rampant “When people who smoke perceive nicotine-replacement therapy or nicotine vapor products to be as harmful or more harmful than smoking, they are less likely to use less harmful products when attempting to quit smoking,”
2021
ConscienHealth October 23, 2021 Reaching for an End to Bias “I don’t like going to the doctor to begin with. I’m really tired of ‘pop some pills, don’t do nicotine, and lose some weight.’ I’m a very modest person. Super uncomfortable with showing my body. I was having health issues and they were trying to eliminate possibilities. First up: blood pressure. The nurse puts the cuff on my arm and it doesn’t work. She grabs a different one, apologizes it’s smaller, but the big one isn’t working. Why not go get a bigger one? So, she uses the smaller one and it was so tight it bruised my arm. Next up: EKG, she digs in a drawer in the room and pulls out a gown, says sorry, there aren’t any bigger ones in here. Why not go get a bigger one? That one was so tight, I could barely get my arms in it. And I couldn’t hold it shut (had to be open in the front) because it wasn’t big enough. I was so embarrassed. The shame was so intense, I couldn’t even advocate for myself and request things the right size. How can a nurse care so little about how things too small made me feel? And our clinic wonders why I don’t come in more often. Why would I?”
2018
Pacific Legal Foundation 2018: “For small businesswomen like Skip Murray, whose son owns JHT Vape in Minnesota, this regulation could be devastating. Not only could the compliance costs force them out of business, but they’re not allowed to label ingredients or talk about the products’ effectiveness to help quit smoking without FDA approval…This means Skip Murray is afraid to tell customers how, after smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, her health turned around when she switched to vaping—unless she first proves to the FDA that her claims about vaping are true.”
Contains links to my work
In The News(letter)
Translated reprints
Vaping Today - June 29, 2022, El camino para dejar de fumar está pavimentado con dulces (The road to quitting smoking is paved with sweets Inside Sources)
Testimony
2021
February 18, 2021, MN HF991 Vapor Tax “I sat with my mom when she took her last breath. She died of the trifecta of smoking - COPD, Heart Disease, and Cancer. She was the last of my elders, smoking had killed them all. In my early 50’s, I became the family elder after losing my Mom. Over the past 6 years, I have witnessed so many people reduce the risk of death and disease when they switched to vapor technology, an alternative to smoking which is 95% safer. It has become my mission in life to help as many people as possible”
February 16, 2021, MN HF904 Flavor Ban “Flavors are important to smoking cessation. This is why nicotine replacement products like gum, lozenges, and inhalers come in flavors. None of those products come in a tobacco flavor. Vapor products may not be FDA approved as a smoking cessation product, but Minnesota’s medical marijuanna is a shining example of where sometimes it’s necessary for a state to go outside of FDA guidance for the benefit of its citizens. The vapor products sold at local vape shops are mostly products made by small businesses, not big tobacco. They are the consumer solution to the tobacco problem and they work!” Attached to Testimony - flavoring in cigarettes.
“They tried to bury us; they did not know we were seeds.”
– Dinos Christianopoulos
