“The Food and Drug Administration recently signaled that it’s planning to let e-cigarette companies sell a broader range of flavors in the United States. It’s a welcome change,” and bans on flavored vapes should end, the Washington Post says:
Illegal vapes began flooding into the U.S. after the enactment of the 2020 ban, which affected all vapes except for tobacco- and menthol-flavored products. The black market has proved extraordinarily resilient to enforcement crackdowns, and these illicit products now make up what the industry estimates to be 70 percent of all e-cigarette sales.
By authorizing companies to start selling some of these popular flavors, the FDA can undercut the black market with alternatives to products that sometimes contain harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde, acrolein and lead….
Many adults as prefer the flavored versions — including those who are trying to quit smoking. In fact, survey data suggests that those who vape with “sweeter” flavors are more likely to ultimately quit compared to those who use tobacco or menthol flavors.
Research has consistently shown that e-cigarettes are more effective at helping people quit combustible tobacco products than other nicotine replacement strategies, such as patches or lozenges. Meanwhile, vaping — while certainly not risk free — so far appears far less harmful than smoking. Any time the government makes it less appealing for people to make the switch, it discourages them from pursuing a healthier substitution.
E-cigarettes save lives by weaning many smokers off of cigarettes. E-cigarettes are a substitute for cigarettes, which cause cancer.
Vaping is much less dangerous than smoking. As Reason Magazine notes,
Nicotine is the substance in cigarettes that makes them physically addictive. But nicotine itself isn’t what makes cigarettes so dangerous. (Some scientists “wonder if a daily dose could be as benign as the caffeine many of us get from a morning coffee,” notes Scientific American.) It’s the other ingredients in cigarettes, and the byproducts of combustion, that make smoking cigarettes so bad for you.
The fact that e-cigarettes contain nicotine does not make them dangerous. Nicotine — unlike tobacco smoke — does not cause cancer. Indeed, nicotine helps with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, according to a study. “Study finds nicotine safe, helps in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s,” reported the Tampa Bay Times.
