Illustration by Jada Nguyen/ Staff Illustrator
Hannah Richey
Contributing Columnist
[email protected]
President Donald Trump has come out in support of a ban on non-tobacco and menthol-flavored e-cigarette liquids.
Trump said this was in response to the growing number of kids and teenagers vaping and the deaths attributed to vaping.
So far four states have banned the sale of e-cigarette liquid to varying degrees from limits on flavors to outright bans on vaping products.
The Center for Disease Control has reported 530 cases of lung injury in the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The case against manufactured e-cigarette liquid is not so straightforward.
The CDC reports that most of the people who have reported lung injury and illness reported using THC liquid in conjunction with nicotine liquid.
Although the CDC has not made a conclusion on the cause of injury, these THC liquids could have been cut with vitamin E acetate which returns to its oil state when inhaled.
According to former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb, there is also reason to believe that illegal nicotine products are to blame for the e-cigarette related injuries when the patient did not use THC oils.
There is a case to criticize brands like Juul for advertising to teenagers. The fruity flavors make the nicotine seem harmless and encourage use.
Teenagers are likely to be the ones purchasing the illegal liquids after the original crackdown on e-cigarette sellers. They go to black market sources to purchase the unregulated e-cigarette liquids.
This is not to say we should allow teenagers to use e-cigarettes but, the education and advertising restrictions on cigarettes were important in the reduction of teen smoking.
If Trump cares as much as he says about the injuries associated with vaping, he should consider advocating for legalized marijuana. This would legalize and regulate the manufacture of the THC oils that could be attributed to injury and death.
Trump could also encourage harsher punishments for companies that breach the advertising laws for nicotine vaping devices and liquids, even going so far as to ban them like cigarettes, if it is about the growing number of teenagers vaping.
The CDC reports 480,000 deaths per year from smoking cigarettes.
Trump has no proposal to ban the sale of cigarettes despite the number of preventable deaths.
While this may seem like an extreme measure, one is causing more preventable deaths than the other. If we look at alcohol prohibition in the United States, it’s obvious this isn’t going to stop anyone from vaping. It’s only going to make the products they use more dangerous.
There is also reason to believe this could hurt Americans. The locally owned vape shops will have to close because their product offerings will be drastically reduced. This will hurt business owners and their employees.
Trump’s ban on e-cigarettes to keep anyone safe falls flat when considering the gun control measures he has yet to sign, with mass shootings still on the rise.
Trump has not told the House or Senate which measures he is willing to sign to keep Americans safe from gun violence which makes lawmakers hesitant to spend time on gun legislation after many attempts.
According to Pew research, mass shootings and gun-related deaths are on the rise, with Alabama being one of the states with the highest gun death rates of 22.9 deaths per 100,000 people.
It is not the legal and regulated e-cigarette liquids that cause injury, illness and death. If Trump wants to keep Americans safe he needs to look toward advertising legislation, legalization and regulation of marijuana and gun control measures.
