Comments

Defining smokers and vapers — 5 Comments

  1. “Have you smoked/vaped in the last 30 days?”.  This is factually meaningless.”

    Surely, it’s specifically designed that way? How else can the weasels prove what they want to prove?

    • Of course it’s designed that way.  The response could be factually correct but it makes no differentiation between an experimenter [just one], a very casual smoker [one or two on Saturday night] and a heavy smoker [60 a day or more]. 

      Equally all these studies and questionnaires rely on two things – an impossibly precise memory and complete honesty.  Unless someone buys one 20-pack every day and smokes every one without fail, the number is going to be inaccurate or at the very least a best-guess.  And how many 40 a day smokers tell their doctor they smoke 20 [or less]?  Hah! 

    • There are another factors that are common to just about every report that is produced these days – risk and relative risk.

      They run experiments on mice [usually with an extreme level of the “toxin”.  A mouse develops symptoms of a disease and they loudly proclaim that there is a “risk” of the toxin causing the disease, ignoring the levels of exposure and the simple fact that a mouse isn’t a human.

      Now suppose the normal risk of catching this disease is .000001% and their results show that .000002% off the mice succumb, they then scream from the roof tops that the toxin doubles the risk, or it increases risk by 100%.  Technically both statements are correct but are misleading to the extreme.  i.e. there is still no risk of any consequence.

      • Generally, what we receive is so filtered by a determination to find results that fit the thesis proposed that any number pointing in a particular direction will be used.

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