Would a vaping ban kill millions?

We should be wary of efforts to save us.

In the realm of public health, vaping sits in a light-gray area. It’s not entirely benign, yet not the villain it's often painted to be. 

Still, it’s being targeted by governments at all levels. What's at stake? Potentially, millions of lives.

Vaping isn't without risks. According to the CDC, e-cigarette use is linked to lung injuries and can lead to nicotine addiction. However, when we peel back the layers, these dangers are trivial compared to traditional smoking, especially in the short term. Long-term effects may crop up later, but so far, vaping hasn't proven to be the health disaster that some claim.

In 2019, an outbreak related to vaping caused severe lung injuries and nearly 70 deaths over two years, traced back to vitamin E acetate in black-market THC vaping products. Besides that outbreak, which occurred primarily in the U.S., the number of deaths attributed to vaping has been virtually non-existent.

Those minimal risks have been enough to trigger political regulations nationwide. Tactics include taxes which in some states double the price to users, flavor bans, and marketing restrictions. They've also tightened sales, both in stores and online, and imposing bans in public spaces. Other countries, like Australia, require a doctor’s prescription.

The rallying cries are usually “For The children!” Yet, the majority of states have set a minimum user age of 21, a bit of a contrast to allowing 18-years-olds to join the military and head to the latest Mideast combat zone.

Now, if we operated under the "allow no harm" principle, the government would be banning a long list of activities, from alcohol consumption to virtually all sports. Life’s risky. It's about making informed choices. 

Here’s where it gets interesting. Smoking is a known killer. Over 28 million Americans smoke, and every year, nearly 500,000 of them die from it. That’s more than deaths from alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined. Smoking is still the largest contributor to preventable deaths in the country.

And … smokers who switch to vaping radically improve their health. It's not the nicotine; it's the carcinogens in smoke that do the real damage, and vaping side steps that.

This isn't mere speculation. A study published in the British Medical Journal highlighted that e-cigarettes could be a more effective quitting aid than nicotine replacement therapy. By ignoring this, we could be snatching away a critical tool in the fight against smoking.

So, what's the real cost of a vaping ban? A huge number of lives, plain and simple. It's not about endorsing vaping as a healthy habit. It's about acknowledging that, for many, it's a lesser evil. Faced with a choice between a known killer and a safer alternative, shouldn't the choice be clear?

The irony’s bitter. In an effort to protect public health, the move to eliminate vaping could spectacularly backfire, potentially leading smokers back to traditional cigarettes, a path we know leads to early graves.

It's a classic example of good intentions paving a road to hell.

– Ken