Social media was alive with shock and horror when an Australian father said he gave his son two cigarettes-a-day to stop him vaping.
The alarming admission came as part of a Guardian article on the ‘soaring rates of youth addiction’…where it was revealed the parent in question also happens to be a doctor.
In the story ‘I’ve lost my children to vaping’, Jason – a pseudonym – said his son picked up the habit at age 12 and has even been arrested for shoplifting e-cigarettes in the past.
The general practitioner, who reportedly knows about the damaging consequences of smoking, said he’s made a number of attempts to get his now 14-year-old to quit.
But after shouting, nicotine gum and warnings about the supposed ‘health impacts of vaping’ didn’t do the trick, Jason decided a daily ration of cancer-causing cigarettes were his next best bet.
He said:
“I’ve tried talking to my son and all of that sort of thing to get him to stop…it doesn’t work because nicotine is highly addictive…getting off vapes is hard.”
Unsurprisingly, this unorthodox stop vaping strategy was met with a torrent of disapproval and disgust.
In fact, some critics were so stunned at Jason’s confession, that they questioned whether the whole story was a parody or if the desperate parent was real at all.
Leading economist and frequent vape commentator Christopher Snowdon said:
“Congratulations if you had ‘doctor gives child cigarettes’ on your Australian clown show bingo card. “I would have never thought of it myself, seems too much like satire…but here we are.”
Writing on his blog ‘Velvet Glove, Iron Fist’, Snowdon warned Aussies have been ‘fed a constant diet of lies’ about vaping and said the country has ‘lost its mind’ when it comes to the reduced risk alternative.
He said:
“What has been going on in Australia with vaping in recent years has all the hallmarks of a classic outbreak of mass hysteria.
“Historically, such outbreaks reach a tipping point when the charlatans who are pulling the strings go too far and the scales fall from people’s eyes.”
“And when a GP is handing out cigarettes to his own 14 year old son, surely that point cannot be far off in Australia?”
Snowdon’s condemnation was echoed by voices across the harm reduction community, who said anti-vape dogma had reached deadly new heights.
Michael Landl of the World Vapers’ Alliance claimed Australia had arrived at ‘peak stupidity’, saying there isn’t a more delicate way to describe a medical professional choosing combustible tobacco over vaping.
Speaking with Vapouround, the WVA director said:
“The science is crystal clear; e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking, but misinformation has now reached a level that is life-threatening.”
The Guardian article – which featured other ‘tragic stories about youth addiction’ – and Australia’s stance on vaping have been met with a wave of negative feedback.
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