Column: Why vaping should have been dealt with years before it began

The harmful effects of vaping have taken the world by surprise after leaving thousands of people with vape-related injuries, but why was it a surprise? Why has it taken over 10 years and 29 vaping-related deaths for people to finally see the danger behind the cotton candy-flavored vape cloud? How was it possible that we ignored the similarities between the marketing of vaping and the history of cigarettes?

Vaping was first introduced to the U.S. market in 2003. Since then, people teens and adults around the world have tried vaping with over 41 million vapers globally as of 2018. It was supposed to be a way to help people quit smoking, but it has done the exact opposite. Instead of leading people to use vaporizers in place of tobacco, vaping acts as a gateway to tobacco use.

Most people know that nicotine is a dangerously addictive substance, so why did no one say anything about the nicotine in e-cigarettes? Even though some kinds of e-cigarettes don’t contain nicotine, the chemicals and vape still create a film that builds up inside of bodies, causing damage to the lungs, the heart and the digestive system. But wait, wasn’t vaping supposed to be harmless?

Cigarettes were also labeled as harmless when they were first popularized in 1881, and it was only much later that people realized their true insidious nature. Unfortunately, consumers have made a similar mistake with vape pens. E-cigarettes should have been regulated similarly to regular cigarettes from the beginning, especially the e-cigs that contain nicotine. 

Yes, vaping websites have warning signs about how nicotine is addictive, and yes, they do say that people under 21 can’t buy their products, but kids and teens still obtain vaporizers fairly easily through third-party dealers, which is another danger in itself. 

Flash back to about 10 years ago. In elementary school, I went through the DARE program just like most kids. I even have a pin somewhere in my old dresser to prove it. DARE was created to prevent kids from using cigarettes, which were also being targeted at young people. In DARE, I learned how to say no to smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol, but I never was instructed on how to respond to a “harmless,” fruit-flavored e-cigarette. If someone approached fifth-grade-me with an ice cream flavored way to smoke “safely,” I think I would have been all for it. 

We should have seen this coming. It’s happened before with the tobacco industry: they targeted children and withheld dangerous truths. Kids already face enough potential dangers from the drugs they know are bad, and now they also have to be protected from the drugs that everyone says are safe. 

Vaping is dangerous and we knew—or should have known—all along. We didn’t do our research, and we allowed vaping companies to sell e-cigarettes without any restrictions, and we only started caring when people started dying. We’ve been through this before with the tobacco industry, and instead of learning from our mistakes, we let it happen again. For some people, it’s already too late to restore their lungs from the damage vaping caused, but others can still be saved. Will the possible bans of flavored vape juice or vaporizers be enough to prevent more deaths?

Karcin Harris is a sophomore who is studying journalism with a social media emphasis. She is from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and came to Logan because of the university’s great reputation and beautiful scenery. She enjoys writing for fun as well as for The Utah Statesman.