Vaping Regulation is Overdue

Artwork: Mariana Vargas

By FARIHA AHMED

Like the swirling clouds rising from an e-cigarette, many teen lives are also going up in smoke. New York has taken action against vaping through temporary legislation. However, more drastic measures must be imposed. New York should permanently ban all flavored vaping products and enact stricter guidelines on both their nicotine content and sales.

Vaping is a popular but harmful teen trend that just doesn’t seem to fade. E-cigarettes, the devices used to vape, are easily concealable and contain large amounts of nicotine. They are most commonly sold by popular companies MarkTen and JUUL for adults to have a smoke-less alternative to cigarettes.

Although claimed by their producers to be safer than traditional cigarettes, these electronic versions can sometimes be much worse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained that one JUUL pod contains as much nicotine as 20 cigarettes. 

“[Nicotine] increases heart rate, blood pressure, and it makes you addicted,” said Ms. Gloria Aklipi, an AP Psychology teacher.

E-cigarettes are not only addictive, they can also lead to serious medical issues. The American Lung Association warned that the drug’s usage “can cause irreversible lung damage and alter teen brains.” 

It is peculiar that teens are frequent users of e-cigarettes when they were never meant to get their hands on them. 

In New York, the “sale/distribution of e-cigarettes or liquid nicotine to persons under age 21 [is] prohibited,” according to the Public Health Law Center. 

However, the law is weakly regulated, and retail stores regularly sell e-cigarettes to minors. The profit they get from addicted teens matters more to some retailers than any future consequences.

“The most common way youth got JUUL is through physical retail locations,” Truth Initiative reported from their national survey. “Nearly 74 percent of youth said that they obtained JUUL at a store or retail outlet.”

There have been serious consequences due to the weak regulation of e-cigarettes. “At least 1,888 cases of vaping-related injuries” have sprung forth thus far, according to the Washington Post. 

“Most victims are teenagers or young adults,” said Dr. Wassim Labaki, a physician at the University of Michigan, in a Healthline article regarding vaping concerns. Evidence of this can be seen a little closer to home.

According to the New York Times, a Bronx teenager was one of the first to die as a result of vaping. In response to the trend, New York has passed some laws regarding the issue just recently.

Governor Andrew Cuomo temporarily banned vaping products with flavoring in September of 2019, according to New York Post. A 20 percent tax on all vaping products will also go into effect December 1 of this year, according to Public Health Law Center.

Yet, more can be achieved on such a vital issue targeting teens. New York should permanently ban all flavored vaping products, which are obviously meant to attract teens. 

There should be strict guidelines created to significantly decrease the amount of nicotine e-cigarettes can have. Quite possibly the most drastic, but necessary change of all: E-cigarettes should be prohibited from regular sale, and should only be attainable through prescription.

The more drastic the measure, the better. E-cigarettes will only worsen our drug-abusive society if left as unrestricted as they currently are. Therefore, their sale must be better administered before unknowing teens jeopardize their futures.