[VDH.VermontPrevention] Quora as a source that youth go to for information about vaping and other health topics

[Rolf Parker]

At the Grantee Meetup, I mentioned Quora as a website that young people go
to for answers about many topics, including health.  I was asked about it,
and wanted to share info with you all here.

In the past, the site was almost 100% full of answers to vaping questions
that could only be described as pro-vaping and false.

The good news is that It has either been cleaned up, or people took down
their own comments, because most of the current posts on Quora explain
the potential harms of vaping and its relationship to COVID.

The bad news is, there are still posts that are dangerously false.

Here is one of examples of a pro-vaping comment which
suggests vaping might protect  a oth users of vapes, and those exposed to
their exhaled breath from COVID.

Question 1 :  https://www.quora.com/Is-it-easier-to-get-COVID-if-you-vape
Is it easier to get Covid if you Vape ?

Martin Clarke <https://www.quora.com/profile/Martin-Clarke-53>
Answered August 11
<https://www.quora.com/Is-it-easier-to-get-COVID-if-you-vape/answer/Martin-Clarke-53>

"Possibly not, I have been told that Propylene Glycol is a bactericide and
virucide, so may help stop spread of the disease via exhalation.

There has been a suggestion that smokers are less likely to catch the
disease. If that’s due to nicotine, then vapers may enjoy the same
immunity."


One way to tell who uses this site for information, are all the posts that
you can find from teens asking how to sneak their puff bars past TSA, and
what will happen to them if they are caught doing so.  There are many
posted questions by people identifying themselves as 14 years old.


 In the past, the nicotine industry has paid influencers to promote their
products and false narratives. They are pros at it. (As noted in Lincoln
Moody's Film, "Black Lungs Black Lives", cigarettes were once marketed as a
cure for asthma to African Americans.) I would be surprised if the industry
did not have at least some presence on these sites. Who knows? What is
known is that more factual information targeted to where youth are seeking
info, is probably a good idea.
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