This is the part that still disgusts me. The FDA basically released a statement a couple weeks into the outbreak several months ago making it clear that the illnesses and deaths were due to thickening agents being used in black market THC carts. Now, the CDC has finally confirmed what we already knew after months of him-hawing and indecision, and even as recently as an hour ago, CNN is still flashing the #'s of illnesses and deaths on screen and presenting them as being linked to "vaping" - with no further qualifiers.
Of course, the rise in vaping among our youth is a serious issue that does need to be addressed, but trying to link that issue to the illnesses and deaths caused by street-level THC carts is shamefully misleading, and it's been a completely embarrassing failure in public health messaging for months now. They saw that they were gaining traction in the court of public opinion, so they knowingly, IMO, perpetuated this falsehood in order to keep momentum going on the issue. Deliberately misinforming people, even for the sake of what you think is the greater good, should never be an option for public health officials and should cost some people their jobs, IMO.
As for Trump's role in this: as far as I'm concerned, this is a broken clock thing. His reversal on this is a case of him potentially doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
