The country is being misinformed about vaping.
With news sources declaring code reds across the nation, vape juice has become the scapegoat for collective fear as more and more people fall victim to the dangers of vaping.
Before I start, I do not recommend vaping and this is not a pro-vape story. I am saying that the general public is not getting the right information, which is leading the government to attempt to ban something that has actually saved many lives.
According to the CDC, there have been 34 confirmed death and 1,604 lung injuries linked to vaping. What they are not telling you is that the main ingredient in these illnesses is vitamin E acetate, which is an oil; if an oil like this is put into a vape on its own, it’s too thick to work.
So, you may be wondering why so many people are being hospitalized for something that can’t be vaped in the first place. The answer lies with cheap, black-market THC cartridges, or cartridges meant to be vaped in order to give a marijuana-esque high. It’s cheaper for manufacturers to mix a bit of vitamin E acetate than it is to use pure pure THC oil. It’s like cutting cocaine with baking powder.
There are only five ingredients in vape juice. Water, nicotine, flavor additives, propylene glycerol and vegetable glycerol (PG and VG). Not one of these ingredients have been linked to any vaping-related illnesses. In fact, there are a multitude of health benefits to nicotine, like an increase in cognitive function, fat burning, an improvement in short term memory and improvement in illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease. Vaping is also a far healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes, a fact many people are starting to forget. Again, I’m not saying that you should start using nicotine. I am saying, though, that these health benefits are largely looked over due to misinformation and nicotine is being unfairly blamed for THC cartridges’ failures.
President Trump proposed a bill for the ban of all flavored E-liquid. If all flavored E-liquid was banned, that would put almost every single vape shop owner and E-liquid company out of business, making thousands of jobs poof into thin air. Ron Pease, CEO of Mister E-Liquid, spoke out against the Michigan flavor ban, claiming that if the ban were to take place, he would lose 89 percent of his profit.
The main argument for a vape ban is the popularity of vape with teens. This is a valid concern, but kids consume illegal substances every day, from alcohol to drugs to plain old cigarettes. A government policy banning all vaping devices seems drastic, especially when vapes are serving their purpose perfectly as alternatives to chemical-filled cigarettes and saving nicotine-addicted adults from the health concerns posed by regular cigarettes. What will happen if the government approves a flavor vape ban is one of two things. Kids will either just start vaping non-flavored e-liquid, or they will start vaping black market e-liquid…the same product that’s killing people in the first place.
Vaping isn’t the problem. Black-market e-liquid is, and the only way to further popularize this product is to ban vaping liquid. Vaping devices are becoming demonized by uninformed news sites and the fear is spreading like wildfire. We need to turn our gazes to the real culprit.
Story by Jake Ditto