Florida’s Governor’s not just blowing smoke. And he doesn’t want you to blow it either.
Ron DeSantis is defending your right to vape, but that doesn’t mean he wants you to pick up the habit.
The Florida Governor told a crowd in Fort Dodge Saturday about his feelings on vapes.
“On this vaping stuff, you shouldn’t. If you don’t do anything, you shouldn’t start to vape. It’s not good for you. But what I’ve found is people that have used cigarettes and got addicted to that, they’re addicted to nicotine when they go to the vape that’s less harmful for them than doing the normal cigarettes.”
“And so, you know, if somebody can take something and do harm reduction, you know, I don’t think that the FDA should ban that. I think people should have the ability, the adults should have the ability to do that. Obviously kids shouldn’t be doing any of this stuff,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis made similar comments in November.
“If somebody goes from cigarettes to vape, it actually is much less damaging than doing the normal cigarettes. So these people were addicted to nicotine, this is what they had. And if you would have allowed that bill to go in, a lot of them probably would have gone back to cigarettes. That would have been totally counterproductive,” DeSantis said regarding vapes.
The Governor’s vape comments were in context with his opposition to a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes. (The White House hasn’t yet committed to the menthol ban, it should be noted, but it’s a priority of the Food and Drug Administration)
“I know that they’re trying to do things like, ban menthol, which I oppose banning that,” DeSantis said Saturday. “But when they want to ban menthol cigarettes, all that’s going to do is create a black market.”
The Governor isn’t alone among Florida politicians in his position. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio wrote a letter to the FDA in July warning that banning these products from being sold legally could lead to the black market filling in the holes. U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz argues that a menthol ban could lead to Hamas and Hezbollah filling the market void by trafficking the banned product.
The post Ron DeSantis says don’t start vaping unless you’re trying to stop smoking appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..