Watermelon, peanut butter cup, blueberry cobbler: These aren’t donuts or milkshake varieties. They’re flavors used in a controversial—and dangerous—trend. Now some U.S. cities and states want to ban certain flavors of e-cigarettes. It’s an effort to curb teen vaping.
“Vaping” is inhaling and exhaling vapor from battery-powered electronic cigarettes. E-cigarettes heat flavored solutions into an inhalable aerosol (vapor). Most of those solutions contain nicotine—the addictive component in cigarettes.
It’s true that most experts believe vaping is less harmful than regular cigarettes. That’s because the vapors don’t contain tar and some of the other cancer-causing byproducts of burning tobacco. But vaping has serious risks. Researchers are studying the long-term effects of the chemicals in e-cigarette vapor. Some of those are definitely toxic.
Here’s what experts say:
—Both cigarettes and some e-cigarettes contain nicotine, an extremely toxic and addictive substance.
—There’s enough nicotine in those e-cigarettes to cause cravings, increased blood pressure and heart rate, and the probability of heart attacks.
—Inhaling the (usually) odorless vapor is unsafe, even from someone else’s e-cigarette.
For teens and young adults, the news is worse. Nicotine can increase mood disorders in developing brains. Most disturbing, nicotine changes the brain’s circuitry. It damages its ability to learn.
Remember Paul’s advice in 1 Corinthians 10:23? “All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up.” E-cigarettes may be good examples of what Paul was talking about. Scripture doesn’t forbid vaping, and vaping won’t take a believer’s salvation from him or her. But it’s hard to see how such a risky habit is either beneficial or useful.
Sadly, increasing numbers of high school and even middle school students are becoming addicted to nicotine through vaping. Experts say that makes them more likely to start smoking regular cigarettes.
Vaping opponents want to make e-cigarettes less appealing to teenagers. Taxing vaping products is a start. Educational campaigns about the problems of vaping is another option. Both should begin this summer. But some critics say that’s not enough. They want chocolate, cereal, and dessert flavors taken off the market.
San Francisco has already banned kid-appealing e-cigarette flavors. Now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to begin removing vaping products that clearly attract kids. It’s targeting those with packaging that resembles juice boxes, candy, or cookies.
“[Teens] look at cigarettes and they say, ‘Cigarettes are disgusting. Tobacco is disgusting,’” says Trish La Chica, an advocate and lobbyist for the Hawaii Public Health Institute. “So take away the cotton candy, take away the flavors that look like they belong in an ice cream shop, and they wouldn’t be attracted to start in the first place.”
