Rantz: Seattle Mayor Durkan praises e-cig ban, yet backs heroin injection sites
Jun 28, 2019, 7:15 AM | Updated: 7:58 am
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan likes harm reduction policies, except when she doesn’t.
Durkan: ‘It’s time’ to discuss ban on e-cigarettes in Seattle
San Francisco just banned the sale of e-cigarettes, the latest move to ban products they don’t like, to protect the public from making their own decisions. Progressives shout “my body my choice!” except for when it comes to e-cigs, I guess.
On Twitter, Durkan praised the move as “bold” and said it’s “time to have this discussion in Seattle.”
Bold move by San Francisco. It’s time to have this discussion in Seattle. Data shows a rise in use and health issues related to e-cigarettes, esp. by young people. WA led the way battling Big Tobacco & cutting smoking. We cannot afford to go backwards. https://t.co/kFAyjTHuDu
— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 26, 2019
Durkan will happily profit off of sugary beverages, even if it hurts low income communities of color, which lead to obesity and diabetes, but she draws the line at e-cigs because they look like cigarettes so, naturally, must be as dangerous.
Her position makes little sense.
E-cigs help some people wean themselves off tobacco cigarettes. Some people vape instead of smoke. That is always the better choice, if you’re going to do either.
Smoking tobacco is unhealthy and dangerous; nicotine alone, in moderation, is not inherently dangerous. Going from cigarettes to e-cigs is a form of harm reduction. Yet, Durkan wants to exploring banning the devices.
But when it comes to heroin addicts, users injecting themselves with an illegal substance in a way so dangerous they need to be supervised by a medical professional, suddenly, Durkan supports harm reduction, backing the idea of heroin injection sites.
When the Seattle-based U.S. Attorney cautioned the city against moving forward with the illegal sites, Durkan’s spokesperson complained to the Seattle Times that he would want “to block a harm-reduction strategy to the opioid epidemic.”
There’s no real rhyme or reason to Durkan’s position on harm reduction except she seems to like breaking federal laws while telling her residents how they should live.
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