Conservative leaders are circulating data to White House staff that claims adults who vape will turn on President Trump if he follows through with his planned ban on flavored e-cigarettes, Axios has learned.
Between the lines: The data (shown below) reveals that the number of adult vapers in key battleground states greatly outweighs the margins by which Trump won those states in 2016 — and they argue it could cost him reelection.
As Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) surges in the polls to a consistent second place behind former Vice President Joe Biden, heightened attention has exposed her to more serious efforts to attack her by other members of the Democratic field.
Driving the news: In recent days, Biden and Mayor Pete Buttigieg criticized Warren for dodging questions about whether her Medicare for All proposal will raise taxes on middle-class Americans, according to USA Today. Both Buttigieg and Biden oppose abolishing private insurance under Sen. Bernie Sanders' Medicare for All plan, and instead favor a "public option."
The big picture: Medical debt burdens Americans without health insurance and, increasingly, those who have insurance with "high deductibles or limited networks of doctors whose care is paid for," the New York Times reports. Surprise medical bills have also grown more common and more expensive.
Maine is close to adding a ballot question to ask voters "to overturn a state law eliminating nonmedical vaccine exemptions for school children," due to efforts from members of the anti-vaccination movement, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The big picture: "Maine is one of a handful of states that have passed laws to limit exemptions to vaccinations developed to stop the spread of infectious diseases like measles, which immunization can keep at bay," per the WSJ. Earlier this year, the Democrat-controlled state legislature passed the law for fear of low immunization rates among young people.
The Philippines reported 1 confirmed case of polio on Thursday alongside another suspected case, marking a "re-emergence" of the vaccine-preventable disease in the country, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: Health Secretary Francisco Duque blamed the return of the disease, among other reasons, on "'poor immunization coverage,' a lack of sanitation and proper hygiene and poor surveillance by health workers," per the Times.
Cannabis oils, vaping devices, packaging materials for vape products and vape products with THC are separately available on Instagram, Amazon and Facebook's Marketplace, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: 8 people across the U.S. have died from lung-related illnesses linked to vaping, as of Sept. 20. This online marketplace "is increasingly difficult for law enforcement and tech companies to police because of the geographic distribution of users ... and the use of private accounts and messaging apps to sell illicit products," per the WSJ.
