Just like New York City (NYC), every society has some existing challenges. The challenges range from education, health, politics, housing, or communication. For these challenges to be solved, the government must formulate policies in response to these challenges. However, implementing the policies to address these challenges has always been a problem. In the case of NYC, Mayor Bloomberg identified health as a primary concern for the people of NYC and made public health a top priority (Watkins, 2013). Bloomberg came up with several health initiatives to give more life to New Yorkers. The initiatives include reducing sodium in prepared foods, calorie counts in menus of chain restaurants, requiring restaurants to make public their health department grades, and limiting the use of tobacco products. These health policies have caused a lot of controversies and have received objections from some sections of the public.
According to Watkins (2013), Bloomberg managed to implement some of his policies, such as the ban of smoking in restaurants and public spaces, which was a major success in reducing the rate of tobacco smoking despite the initial resistance the poly received. However, the proposed bill by Bloomberg to restrict the display of tobacco products mainly to the younger generation received tremendous opposition (Watkins, 2013). Bloomberg’s effort to limit soda cups to sixteen ounces also received a major setback and was even rejected by the court of law. It is clear to point on how it is difficult to implement public policies without people perceiving it as an attempt to control their freedom.
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Bloomberg is the best thing that has ever happened to public health. Bloomberg has had a massive effect on his city and also has provided a blueprint on how mayors should approach their jobs. Bloomberg used his city and health department to advocate for significant reforms that are beneficial to NYC and set a massive example that people around the nation have emulated. Apart from the health policies, his philanthropy has seen him make billions of dollars of donations to support the people of NYC (Watkins, 2013). I agree with the approaches by Bloomberg, especially on curbing smoking. Also, obesity is a significant health problem for Americans; the proposed policy of reducing soda cups to sixteen ounces was a major step in cutting calories that people consume (Watkins, 2013). The groups that oppose these approaches are mainly business people who are affected by these policies. For example, Jim Calvin president of the NYACS termed the decision as absurd while Philip Morris of Marlboro, described the approach as “going too far.”
Vaping Article
The ban on the use of e-cigarettes should be legislated. According to Hines (2018), e-cigarettes are designed for the primary reason of helping adults to quit smoking. However, there is a massive increase in the number of teenage vaping. According to the U.S CDCP, more than 1 in 4 American teenagers have attempted vaping. In addition, conferring to the New England Journal of Medicine, twelve percent of teenagers aged sixteen to seventeen were addicted to nicotine, which has a significant effect on the brain development of adolescents (Hines, 2018). According to the FDA, the use of e-cigarettes is a major crisis affecting most American youths. It is clear that the use of e-cigarettes has deviated from its main purpose, which is to promote adult smoking cessation and instead used mostly used by youths. Hence, the sale and use of e-cigarettes should be banned.
E-cigarette companies such as Juul Labs Inc. are making efforts to protect public health by making products for adult smokers to change to healthier options (Hines, 2018). Juul Labs Inc. has also made plans to develop Bluetooth controlled e-cigarettes that would help ex-smokers to keep track of their nicotine intake as they may make efforts to wean off from tobacco use. However, the company had introduced numerous flavored vapors, which include cucumber, mango crème brulle, which have been perceived as getaway drugs that have driven most teenagers’ nicotine use and addiction (Hines, 2018). Furthermore, e-cigarettes contain numerous potentially dangerous elements, for example, heavy metals such as lead and cancer-causing agents. Also, there is no clear proof that vaping is an effective way of encouraging tobacco cessation, and more research is required to understand how e-cigarettes function. According to (Hines 2018), approximately 80% of people who try to quit smoking e-cigarettes have failed to do so. Furthermore, of the twenty percent who successfully quit smoking, about 80% continue to be active e-cigarette users. Hence, e-cigarette companies have not made sufficient efforts to promote health.
E-cigarette users should be able to sue e-cigarette companies. The main purpose of e-cigarettes is to reduce nicotine dependence; however, there have been numerous reports and lawsuits that associate e-cigarette with increased nicotine addiction, which goes against the intended purpose (Hines, 2018). Also, the use of e-cigarettes has been associated with increased lung injury and worsening the health conditions of users and even lead to death. E-cigarettes were designed to be safe alternatives for the cessation of tobacco use, yet it has a detrimental effect on the health of a person. Hence, a person must be able to sue e-cigarette firms. For example, Juul Labs Inc. is currently being sued by different users due to the high nicotine content present in the vapors.
Reference
Hines, A. (2018). Vape King Juul Wants Everyone to Chill Out. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-01/juul-is-trying-everything-to-prove-it-can-regulate-itself
Watkins, T. (2013, March 24). Bloomberg: Nanny-in-chief or health crusader? Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/24/us/michael-bloomberg-profile
