OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. -- Like millions of people, I was a huge fan of the first season of "Serial," blasting through the entire podcast in one week’s time. And like pretty much every "Serial" fan, I spent my Christmas vacation binge-watching Netflix’s "MakingaMurderer" miniseries. It’s not surprising: These true crime stories incite outrage at the flaws in our legal system, sympathy for the unjustly convicted and the urge to fix these injustices.
As I obsessively scoured the Internet for updates on Adnan Syed of "Serial" and Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey of "Making a Murderer," I found myself thinking about how all this public outrage and grass-roots efforts are not unlike what’s going on with vaping.
Scoff if you like, but here are three similarities I see between these true-crime series and the world of e-vapor:
1. Lots of Claims, Few Facts
Perhaps one of the most flabbergasting moments of "Making a Murderer" came when the prosecutor held a press conference (months before going to trial) weaving a gruesome tale of murder and torture “proved” by the confession of Brendan Dassey—even though the mentally challenged 16-year-old’s confession was seemingly very coerced, with no physical evidence to back it up.
With e-vapor, we hear lots of claims about how bad the products are, with major health agencies going as far as to assert vaping is worse than smoking. Yet when you read past the headlines and look at the data, there’s little—if any—scientific evidence to back up the accusations.
2. Tried in the Media
Such sensational claims are all the more problematic because they make for great headlines. I can’t tell you how many times my husband forwards me articles with splashy titles such as “Another E-Cig Explodes,” “Five-Year-Old is Addicted to Candy E-Cigs” or “Vaping Definitely Causes Cancer.”
Like the central figures of "Serial" and "Making a Murderer," vaping seems to be getting tried in the court of public opinion before the actual courts—or in vape’s case, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—have the opportunity to weigh in.
3. The Power of the People Prevails (Hopefully)
The popularity of "Serial" and "Making a Murderer" hasn’t merely drawn huge ratings for NPR and Netflix—it’s also spawned actual change. After 15 years in prison, Adnan Syed of "Serial" was granted a post-conviction relief hearing, and more than 500,000 people have signed a Change.org petition to free Steven Avery.
It’s difficult to imagine a group more passionate than these "Serial" and "Making a Murderer" fans, who have gone as far as to start their own podcasts and investigations into the subjects—unless you’ve spent five minutes with an avid vaper. This is a hugely politically active group, willing to go to bat for the products they believe in. I met one vaper who said she hopes she gets ticketed for vaping inside so she can fight indoor-vaping bans in court. In theory, the FDA’s deeming regulations have taken so long to finalize because an unprecedented amount of vaping advocates have submitted comments and requested meetings with the White House regarding the topic.
Only time will tell if "Serial" or "Making a Murderer" fans will free Syed and Avery, or if vapers will determine the next president. But you can’t argue with their passion.
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