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Gov’t and MSA payments

Gov’t and MSA payments

State governments & the MSA

On November 23, 1998, all but four state governments entered into the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with the 4 big tobacco giants.

 

These tobacco companies committed to pay out around $200 billion over twenty years to the state governments. Payment amounts are based on annual cigarette sales.

Money.

Vaping nicotine is proven to help smokers off of cigarettes and keep them off.

If smoking rates drop because of vaping then the states get less money from the MSA. Therefore, successful uptake of vaping threatens to reduce the amount of the MSA payments.

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In the first section of the MSA, this agreement was made “to avoid the further expense, delay , inconvenience, burden and uncertainty of continued litigation” by the state against the tobacco industry for expenses occurred to Medicaid as a result of smoking.

Unfortunately, the MSA did not make clear provisions for how the MSA money is to be spent and very little of it is being spent on the intended purpose.

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Since the 4 tobacco giants entered an agreement to pay the state though the MSA, other tobacco companies are to be penalized by the state for doing business because the state doesn’t get a cut of their sales. So, since vaping helps smokers get off of cigarettes (which would lower MSA payments) the FDA catigorized vaping as tobacco and the states can ‘dilligently enforce’ laws against them.

It’s important to note that vaping is no more tobacco than vitamin C is an orange.

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Some of the state governments issued bonds based on the projections for future MSA payments. Unfortunately, they underestimated the rate at which smokers would stop smoking which means the payments were lower than they banked on. The actual payments were too insufficient to pay the bonds when due.

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S&P bond ratings sound alarm

The S&P Global Ratings rates publically trading securities such as bonds. Ratings range from AAA to D which indicates the reliablility of the security to pay out when due. They assessed the immerging vaping industry as reducing the amount of smokers and therefore the ability of what is backing the bonds (MSA payments) to cover the pay out. This means the governments that issued the bonds have to find money elsewhere to pay the bonds out when due.

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Gov’t and MSA payments

What went wrong in the USA

What went wrong in the USA

Governments, health authorities, medical professionals, anti-smoking groups and health-related nonprofits utilized mainstream media to repeatedly claim that vaping was injuring people without specifying that the injuries were caused from illegal THC cartridges.

Over and over again, they included vaping nicotine in their conversations, statements and announcements. A false narrative that blamed vaping nicotine for the lung injuries spread throughout the public and the health community. 

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For over 20 years, RealClearPolicy has been reviewing US domestic policy and analyzes “the most pivotal information on the day’s need-to-know issues”. They reviewed how the CDC handled EVALI in their article titled, Heads Should Roll at CDC after Botched Vaping Investigation.

Filter is a nonprofit, their mission is to …”advocate through journalism for rational and compassionate approaches to drug use, drug policy and human rights”. Their critique of how CDC handled EVALI is titled, Vapes and Lung Disease: The CDC’s Lesson in How Not to Handle an Illness Outbreak.

Gov’t and MSA payments

Expert warnings

Expert warnings from the UK

Since the 2016 publication of ‘Nicotine Without Smoke‘, UK health authorities have been promoting vaping as a smoking cessation aid for their citizens.

 

The UK health community understood that the cause of the 2019 vaping-related lung injuries (EVALI) was not from vaping nicotine. Yet, North American experts were saying it was. Scientists, health authorities and doctors in the UK issued statements and reports to help people learn the truth.

“Complete madness”

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Quotes from experts

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Repeated fear provoking narrative

The pervasive message in North America is that we have to ban vaping because their is a ‘youth vaping epidemic’.

In Great Britain, vaping is recognized as a significant harm reduction strategy and is promoted by their public health. Yet, less than 2% of 11-18 year olds vape more than once a week.

WHERE is the youth vaping epidemic in Great Britain?

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Youth experiment with adult activities, this is why 52% vaped “to give it a try”. Cigarette smoke is far more addictive than nicotine vapour and far more harmful. Since smoking tastes gross, perhaps the flavours in eliquid are preventing youth from becoming smokers.

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CALL TO ACTION

Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs wrote a referenced paper about EVALI. It is the perfect document to enlighten health professionals about how they have been deceived about EVALI and vaping.

Gov’t and MSA payments

Canada gov’t THC cartridges

Canadian government & THC cartridges

The Canadian federal government controls the sale of cannabis products and makes revenue through a cannabis federal excise duty.

 

On October 19, 2019, during the EVALI outbreak, THC cartridges were approved for sale in Canada. Remember, the lung injuries were caused from illegal THC cartridges. 

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Due to the deception that vaping nicotine was the cause of EVALI, sales of the new cannabis products were not interrupted but how many vapers switched back to the most lethal form of nicotine: tobacco cigarettes?

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Gov’t and MSA payments

What went wrong in Canada

What went wrong in Canada

Governments, health authorities, medical professionals, anti-smoking groups and health-related nonprofits utilized mainstream media to repeatedly warn the public that vaping was injuring people without specifying that the injuries were caused from illegal THC cartridges.

Over and over again, they included vaping nicotine in their conversations, statements and announcements. A false narrative that blamed vaping nicotine for the lung injuries spread throughout the public and the health community. 

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Gov’t and MSA payments

What happened

What happened

Suddenly, there were hundreds of cases of severe lung injuries in areas around the USA. All the patients had vaped.

Yet, millions of smokers had been vaping nicotine for more than a decade without any cases of severe lung injuries.

In August of 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced they were investigating an outbreak of lung injuries.

Over 2800 cases were identified, causing 68 deaths in the USA; in Canada there were 19 cases and no deaths.

76% of the patients were under 35 and 66% were male.

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The investigation and resolution

Vaping nicotine is a harm reduction strategy used by millions of smokers all over the world. Since the injuries only occurred in North America, it was clear the injuries were being caused by something other than standard nicotine eliquid.

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Almost 100% of the injured patients reported using illegal THC cartridges. Despite the evidence, the injury was named EVALI (E-cigarette or Vaping product use-Associated Lung Injury) implying the cause was vaping nicotine.

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To identify the substance causing the injuries, lung samples from the patients were analyzed. The fat-based substance, vitamin E acetate, was identified as causing the injuries. This substance can not be dissolved in water-based nicotine eliquid; they would separate in the container.

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Vaping products used were analyzed

The patients surrendered the products they were vaping to help identify the cause of the injuries. Nicotine eliquids contained no unexpected or harmful chemicals but 9 out of 10 illegal THC carts contained vitamin E acetate which is used as a cutting agent.

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More on what happened

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