Vaping. The word that has taken over the nation. It seems as though everyone is doing it these days, especially high school teens. But, is it as big of a problem as society has recently made it?

There’s a big movement growing against vaping. The movement is due to the increase in consumption of e-cigarettes by young teens. According to Harvard Medical School, 37 percent of high school seniors reported vaping in 2018. In 2017, over 2.1 million middle schoolers and high schoolers reported vaping. Some states have gone as far as changing the legal smoking age in order to prevent vaping from reaching younger audiences. Back in June, Illinois changed the legal smoking age to 21, instead of 18, as an effort to prevent teenagers from vaping.

Many people want to go as far as banning vaping. The explanation for such an extreme solution is due to the popularity of vaping has gotten, especially with younger audiences. Recently, there have been deaths in connection with vaping. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), seven deaths have been confirmed in California, Illinois, Indina, Kansas, Minnesota and Oregon, all linked to vaping. The CDC explains how these deaths have no specific explanation because research on the effects of vaping is still ongoing. The cause for the specific lung injuries are still unknown, and the CDC continues to work with states to further continue research on the harmful effects vaping can have on users.

But the efforts to ban e-cigarettes are useless. If teens want to vape, they will always find a way. It’s the same as alcohol or other drugs. Just because there are laws against these substances and age limits put on them, that doesn’t mean usage habits are going to change. There are good intentions behind ending the vaping epidemic, but the passion behind these intentions can be put to better use.

Yes, people are dying because of vaping. But those numbers are new and researchers are still working on finding the specific cause of the lung injuries. Vaping is like smoking, so what were we expecting it to result in? Of course it isn’t healthy. Smoking and alcohol cause greater numbers of death than vaping and probably will continue to—yet there is no strong movement to ban either.

Our history has taught us a lesson or two about banning very popular items. Back during the Prohibition era, it caused an increase in violence and illegal markets.

When it comes down to it, everything in this world is dangerous. Vaping is a bad habit, so its effects shouldn’t surprise anyone. It would be foolish to ban them when so many people smoke and drink regularly. It will only cause the same societal chaos as it did during the Prohibition era. 

Vaping is a choice and so people should be free to do as they wish.

People are warned everyday through ads about the harmful effects and yet they still do it. These measures simply aren’t working. The world has greater issues to worry about. The great “vaping illness” everyone is overexaggerating is merely a distraction from what is actually going on in the world. Instead,  get involved and put efforts into changing the world through better means. Don’t waste your attention on things like vaping. Go save the damn Amazon Rainforest instead.

Photo credit to https://vaping360.com.