Vaping: Ban on e-cigarettes likely to spark the black market

Vaping-related deaths were reported in California (2), Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, and Oregon

The vaping community has been concerned from past many days after a sharp surge in lung diseases, seizures, and other health problems among people after vaping in various states of the United States of America. Till now seven deaths have been witnessed and all indicated towards dangers of vaping. E-cigarettes are not new to people as they were introduced in the US around a decade ago and were supposed to be an alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes. But looks like the picture is different here as the number of people coming up with lung-related illness has now gone up to 530 in the country. Three-fourths of the cases are male, and two-thirds are between the ages of 18 and 34.

Vaping-related deaths were reported in California (2), Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, and Oregon. But soon the e-cigarettes might become a thing of the past as Trump administration considers removing all flavored e-cigarettes from store shelves amid vaping crisis.

The surge of e-cigarettes

The e-cigarettes were not popular right after they were introduced in the market until Juul Labs thumped its footprint and became the leader of e-cigarettes after it debuted its discreet USB-size vaporizer. Their product started getting popular among the young adults who had never even seen any kind of tobacco products before.

After seeing a sudden spike in the use of these products by the young adults, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement that claimed the teen vaping an "epidemic" and urged the e-cigarette industry to address this problem or be ready to face the product being pulled out of the market. This statement was issued in the year 2018.

In that year itself, FDA made a surprise inspection at Juul Labs at their San Francisco headquarters in order to look out for more information regarding company’s sale and marketing procedures and strategies. In that inspection, the FDA showed concern that the company might be luring underage users.

In wake of these serious issues, FDA issued new guidelines restricting the sale of most flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, at convenience stores, gas stations, and pharmacies and asked all the e-cigarette manufacturers to submit an application regarding their product meeting all the refreshed guidelines as per FDA.

Since the process is really slow, FDA has started to air new anti-vaping commercials on television and along with this the social media giants like Facebook and Instagram also restricted the content on e-cigarettes. The country’s biggest retail giant Walmart has also decided to take off the e-cigarettes off the shelves now.

It only kills you

Around 15,000 Americans lost their lives due to lung cancer in 2018, with most of the patients being the tobacco victims. Opting for vaping can only be deciphered as choosing the lesser of the two evils.

Smoking a cigarette is not just dangerous to the smokers but it affects the passives too. In the case of e-cigarettes, the smoke does not reach nearly the same temperature as the cigarettes which spare the non-smokers from inhaling the pollutants.

The young population is getting addicted to nicotine from e-cigarettes. And these vaping companies have played a major role in inviting these young adults into this trap by introducing a whole lot of flavors to choose from. And to bring it to notice, the e-cigarettes which are considered as an alternative for those who are trying to quit the traditional smoking, they deliver nicotine in a noncombustible fashion. The users might inhale metallic fumes from the coil and wick, that is used to heat the e-liquid of the product in the lithium charged devices.

This implies that e-cigarettes are definitely not 100 percent safe. The companies though have given a lot of proofs in order to make it a safer option but the scientific evidence is not pointing out towards safety.

The online market

But the cases that are being registered suddenly, there has to be some reason behind it. The vaping business is there in the market from a long time now but now the sudden outbreak in respiratory diseases, the mysterious deaths of the people due to vaping is questionable. Even though the big giants are trying to restrict the age bar for the users, but the e-cigarettes are also available online now.

And when we say online that means anyone can make the purchase. And these websites which are selling the e-cigarettes are mostly the Chinese ones and the worst part in here is that the e-cigarettes are not even properly tested due to which there are higher chances that it can adversely affect the health conditions. But Trump has now banned the flavored e-cigarettes, but it is yet to be seen how well the ban is followed in the online market.

Vaping situation in India

On September 18, an executive order mentioning the ban on the production, import, sale, storage, and advertisement of vaping products in India was passed. The main reason behind this order was the rise of popularity of this habit among the youth of the nation. According to the order passed the first-time offenders could face up to one year in prison and a Rs 1 lakh (USD 1,397) fine, subsequent violations will cost up to three years in jail and a Rs 5 lakh fine. The ordinance will be taken up for discussion in the next session of parliament on December 2.

In India, the e-cigarettes mostly come from countries like China, the US, Hong Kong, and Germany. The Association of Vapers India (AVI), which is an organization that represents e-cigarette users, said that the ban on vaping will be a black day for smokers who are looking for a safer alternative to cigarettes.

Considering the situation in the US, the American Medical Association (AMA) urged Americans to stop vaping entirely until scientists better understand the cause of illnesses and deaths. There are many unknown things about the current epidemic, so again out of an abundance of caution, they have recommended that everyone avoid the use of these products. Hopefully, people will understand the repercussions here and act accordingly. Banning it will surely give a boost to the black market and this will put more people at risk and while also harming the good businesses that aim to offer people an alternative to smoking. The government needs to find a solution for the illegal market as well. The traditional cigarettes are legal, thus, to ban the e-cigarettes sounds irrational as well.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are the personal views of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)