Federal and State Vape Flavor Ban?

President Trump's first announcement plans to ban flavored eliquid caused quite an uproar around the nation. Many ex-smokers, who now vape, have been extremely worried and are pushing for any possible way to stop this ban. 

This whole ordeal started in the past few weeks when different news outlets flooded the public with countless articles on deaths related to vaping. Most of these biased articles failed to mention why these few deaths and illnesses are actually occurring and how they have little to nothing to do with nicotine vaping.

Most of these recent deaths and illnesses have been a result of black market THC cartridges. Most patients have admitted to vaping black market products (especially THC cartridges), but the politicians and journalists are glossing over this extremely pertinent fact. These news outlets clearly have an agenda, and it is to ban flavored vape and eliquid off the market. 

Most of these illegal cartridges contain vitamin E acetate oil. This goes into a lot of topical creams but is not safe for inhalation.

"Lipids [i.e. oils] in the lung are highly toxic and have been associated with lung injury for years,” retired California pulmonologist Dr. Howard Mintz told Leafly. “They are most commonly seen in persons using ointments in their noses,” which can lead to a condition known as lipoid pneumonia...All tocopherols may uniquely disrupt the function of the fluid lining the surface of the lungs.

“No vitamin E should be vaped regardless of its chemical structure,” said Eliana Golberstein Rubashkyn, a New Zealand–based pharmaceutical chemist and the chief scientist of Myriad Pharmaceuticals" (Downs, Leafly, Amid Vape Pen Lung Disease Deaths: What Exactly Is Vitamin E Oil?).

The government is pretending to care about the safety of children while there are still fruity and sweet flavored cigarettes such as Cigarillos or Backwoods cigars being sold all across the nation. There is an array of candy and fruit flavored alcohol that minors are definitely getting their hands on illegally but there is no emphasis on flavor for these issues. 

"This misguided attempt to limit youth vaping will undermine the harm reduction benefits of e-cigarettes for adult smokers and will increase police interaction among vulnerable populations — including kids themselves.

Tobacco users who switch from combustible cigarettes to e-cigarettes experience various improvements in health. These include quick improvements in lung function and reduced exacerbation of COPD symptoms, research shows. Using e-cigarettes also helps people quit smoking altogether, with twice the success rate of other quit methods. Punishing people in possession of these safer products while leaving combustible products alone will do little to improve public health.

Researchers have yet to demonstrate that an e-cigarette flavor ban will prevent minors from obtaining and experimenting with tobacco products, including far more dangerous products like combustible cigarettes. This means that the ban will not only make adult smokers less likely to switch to vaping or quit tobacco altogether, but also will not succeed in its primary aim of reducing youth vaping rates" (Kelley & Wade, The Detroit News, Opinion: Vape flavor ban doesn't help kids, hurts adults).

These dessert and candy flavors are not designed to lure in children; adults and legal aged consumers are the main customers for these flavors. Social media has been flooded with adults talking about their experience quitting smoking with these fruity and sweet eliquids that have pretty much saved their lives. The only way they were able to stop their toxic and fatal smoking habit was with the help of these flavored eliquids. If the government turns a blind eye to this crucial fact then many people will fall back into the rabbit hole of smoking, leading to even more deaths and illnesses. 

This whole idea of banning flavors in eliquid is flawed. The people that use and benefit from flavored eliquid are legal aged adults. Banning flavors will not solve a parenting issue. Eventually, teens and minors will turn to other things or find illegal ways to get their hands on juice, or even resort to making their own juices (which can be even more dangerous). Instead of outright banning flavored eliquid, there needs to be more regulation. Regulation means that counterfeits get taken off the market, big brands have to go through the FDA, and laws against selling to minors are strengthened. 

The government needs to wake up and realize what the real problems are. Regulation is the solution, not an impulsive and irrational ban.