Vaping, to some, is the new, cooler version of cigarettes. Frankly, adults are only catching up after two or three years of it being big. I am a junior who can recall watching students vape in the bathroom in eighth grade. 

Like so many other things my generation has gotten used to – school shootings, the president Tweeting crazy stuff, terrorism, violence on tv – we have gotten used to vaping. There are even grim vaping jokes: “Do you smell popcorn or is that just our lungs?” 

The real issue is that we are not sure about the long-term effect of vapes due to the fact that they are such a new technology. There have now been a number of deaths attributed to vaping, and the American Medical Association has discouraged people from vaping until more information about its risks are available.

In terms of regulation, things have gone slowly. Only a few states have completely banned flavored e-cigarettes. However, there is a chance that one Michigan man’s lawsuit could reverse those bans in the state of Michigan or across the country.

Many states have put many different regulations on vaping. The state which has arguably taken the most aggressive action is California. They have made it harder to purchase e-cigarettes of any sort, including vapes, and have allocated $20 million for a vaping awareness fund.

New York just banned all flavored e-cigarettes. 

My opinion is mixed. On one hand, I can see the dangers of vaping but I do not want the heavy hand of government to crush the vaping market too quickly. Over 400,000 people die from smoking in America every year according to the CDC, yet smoking has not been banned.

Plus, vaping may actually be helping people stop smoking. So a moderate view is in order. States should outlaw flavored vaping products. Laws and regulations should be created which ban advertising of vapes implicitly or explicitly to people younger than 21. Schools should start teaching kids about the danger of vaping in elementary school. Finally, the state governments and/or federal government should fund vaping awareness campaigns similar to those in California. 

It’s not that people who vape are bad. It’s not even that everyone who vapes is addicted. It’s that vapes, just like any other vice, need to be kept out of the hands of people who don’t have fully developed brains.

The effects of vaping are largely unknown. Yet it cannot be good to continue to allow companies such as Juul to sell addictive and dangerous products to the youth of this country. As far as the vaping problem in VHS and across the country is concerned, enacting common sense regulations and basic vape education are the only way to solve it.