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1shooner | on: Amazon’s “digital pacifier” for toddlers
This is also a great argument for low-tar cigarettes for children.
tripleee | parent
Do you have a strong argument against them?

The group of parents who let their kids smoke might get those instead, improving their health

The parents who don't allow it would never consider them

I suppose it depends how many of group 2 could be converted to 1 if they were "low tar!".. my intuition is close to zero

1shooner | root | parent
You're asking if I have a strong argument against targeting children with tobacco products?
tripleee | root | parent
The existence of them, yeah. I don't think it's so clear cut that it'd be a net increase in harm. Advertising I'm not so sure about, but as for the mere existence of them:

Group A is going to smoke regardless, having a healthier product reduces harm

Group B is never going to smoke no matter what's on offer

odo1242 | root | parent | next
You’re missing Group C, who didn’t offer cigarettes to their kids until their kids heard of these “healthy” cigarettes that are “safe for kids”
1shooner | root | parent
Juul was essentially this scenario.
ArcHound | root | parent
Absolutely no cigarettes should be marketed to children. That doesn't mean various cigarette-adjacent products cannot exist.
tripleee | root | parent
The net harm result really only changes because the scope and numbers differ. I don't think I've ever met anyone who actually allows their kids to smoke, I see a lot who give them tablets though.

If we instead imagine a world where parents allowed, even encouraged 60% of children to smoke, and there was no clear route to outright stopping them, giving them at least a better alternative that doesn't hurt them as much would be worth considering

ArcHound | root | parent
I think I get what you're saying, but it's really an unfortunate example.

I think it's still better to ban these obviously harmful things and to reduce exposure to them as much as possible.

tripleee | root | parent
I don't see what banning it actually accomplishes unless we totally ban tablets altogether. From the way I see it, it's the parents who are choosing to give their kids tablets in order to make their own parenting job easier. Am I wrong there? What do you ban to stop that happening?
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