Doctors in New York are now urging Governor Andrew Cuomo to ban all tobacco products in a bid to help fight COVID-19.
The New York State Academy of Family Physicians (NYSAFP) is asking Governor Cuomo to ban the sale of tobacco products and pointed to a study from China, which discovered that smokers have a higher chance of contracting the deadly infection.
In addition, scientists found that those who smoke tobacco are ’14 times as likely to have COVID-19 progression.’
In a statement to the New York Daily News, NYSAFP president Dr. Barbara Keber said: “As our state and country struggle to respond to the rapidly evolving and escalating COVID-19 pandemic affecting our residents and straining our healthcare system, mounting evidence demonstrates the link between tobacco use and increased risk for progressive COVID-19.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York governor had taken measures to reduce vaping. He launched the hashtag #NoVapeNY in February and announced that people who wanted to quit could join a texting program.
The group’s president, Dr. Jason Matuszak, said to WRGB: “It wasn’t that long ago that we were dealing with a separate respiratory crisis that was specifically tied to vaping products.”
He was referring to a vaping-related illness that sickened more than 2,800 people and took the lives of 68 in 29 states.
Vitamin E acetate, which was found in almost all of the cannabis vapors, was the ‘key culprit’ that sickened vape users.
Dr. Matuszak said that if vapers with lung damage contract COVID-19, they could end up being on ventilators.
Governor Cuomo said in a press conference that New York needs 30,000 ventilators but only has 7,000.
Dr. Matuszak told WRGB: “If we have 14 times fewer people needing ventilators, that’s a big difference. Now all of the sudden our ventilators that we have in supply might be enough to help the vast majority of our population get through this really tough time.”
However, the New York State Vapor Association said that the ban would push people to buy tobacco products illegally.
“I think it’s responsible to not cause a separate panic by banning tobacco products,” Andrew Osborne, the group’s vice president, told the station.
“I do understand the need to recommend people not to use combustible tobacco, especially during this point, but it’s very disingenuous if they’re going to try and take life saving vapor products away from hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who need them to stay smoke free.”
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