Over the past couple of weeks, multiple stories online have arisen that link using electronic cigarettes to death. A few photos went viral of people in hospital beds hooked up to machinery that allows them to breathe. They were holding signs that beg people not to vape, that it can kill them, etc. In turn, the federal and multiple state governments have been discussing the potential ban of flavored and unflavored e-cigarettes from being sold in stores. 

There are many problems with this ban. The first issue is that the link drawn between teens and using e-cigarettes bought from stores is not entirely clear. While all of the people who died from lung issues did vape, many of them also bought THC vape cartridges from unreliable sources. These unregulated cartridges are used in pens often for their portability and decreased scent. The problem is that in a majority of states, marijuana is not legalized. Therefore, these cartridges are often being made in someone’s home, which is not a reliable thing that people should be inhaling into their bodies. One way to solve deaths that are occurring in this fashion is to legalize marijuana. States would be able to not only avoid deaths, but also be able to create jobs and generate more revenue. 

E-cigarettes were created as an attempt to help people who were addicted to nicotine to stop smoking cigarettes. Obviously, e-cigarettes have had a larger impact than that, with the flavors available attracting teenagers. Cigarettes cause cancer. This is something that the U.S. government has known for a very long time. People die from smoking cigarettes. We know this. However, the U.S. government has not begun to ban cigarettes. Politicians are scared to take action to help better the American people because of Big Tobacco putting money into their pockets. 

Something that, without question, cause deaths are guns. Regardless of the argument that there has to be a person behind the trigger in order for the gun to do the killing, guns primary function is to kill, or at least injure, living creatures. This is not something the government is working to stop, for similar reasons to cigarette companies. As long as the NRA or Big Tobacco companies are pumping money into pockets of politicians, those politicians will not do anything to stop them. 

If cigarettes were banned, the idea of vapes being banned would not be surprising. However, the government will not ban them. People need to stop pretending that the government is doing this for our well-being. 

Photo from LindsayFox via Pixabay