U.S. Senator Ed Markey said prison officials in the United States tend to put prisoners in solitary confinement who are black, Latino, homosexual, disabled, or illegal immigrants because of those characteristics.
Markey made the comment during an online forum Tuesday, August 4 organized by people who were formerly incarcerated.
In April, House appropriators faced a decision with major ramifications for efforts to combat smoking and protect public health. The Food and Drug Administration is poised to adopt rules that could cripple the e-cigarette industry, obstructing the availability of a safer alternative to cigarettes. The appropriators might be the last line of defense against wrong-headed action by the FDA.
E-cigarettes, and vaping products more generally, don't burn tobacco, allowing them to deliver the nicotine that smokers crave without the cancer-causing tar that kills them. The nicotine solution contains flavoring and propylene glycol which, based on current evidence, is safe when inhaled over the short term – long term follow-up is needed to observe if any harmful effects show up later on. Smokers with asthma who have switched completely or partly to vaping products enjoy improved lung function and blood pressure.
