The Trump administration made the right call earlier this month by going after flavored vaping products with executive actions, bringing along the brass at the Food and Drug Administration. After all, these vape pens are drug delivery devices. The FDA has this authority.
Thank goodness, too. The Washington Post reports that 27.5 percent of high schoolers said they used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. And that number seems to jump more and more every year.
So what's the harm? Well now, that's the big question, isn't it? The days of proclaiming that vaping is better than cigarettes, and looking the other way, are over. Or should be. Most doctors might advise a two-pack-a-day smoker to give it a try, but most doctors would also tell a 15-year-old to stay the hell away from these devices. They not only pump nicotine into the human blood system, and THC from dope, but who knows what else. Actually, nobody knows what else.
So far, dispatches say the number of people sickened by vaping has surpassed 500. And authorities believe at least seven people have died.
Folks have reported symptoms along the lines of pneumonia. First, shortness of breath. Then fever. And fatigue. And all the way up (down?) to respiratory failure. And, so far, the mystery illness has targeted mostly young people, who don't usually have lung problems.
The other day, a 19-year-old was taken to a hospital in Pennsylvania because of breathing trouble. He was unable to breathe on his own because his lungs had become congested with some sort of solidified vaping oil. His name is Anthony Mayo, and his father says his son has the lungs of a 60-year-old two-pack-a-day smoker. Also, the teen's lungs might be scarred for life.
The kid had been vaping about two years.
"It's solidified," Dad told the papers. "It's caking everything inside of his lungs." He compared it to cold bacon grease. If that doesn't give the rest of us pause, what will?
There are theories about what's happening:
-- Maybe there are bad ingredients being added to vaping liquids on the street. You know, the dealers might be cutting it with bad stuff.
-- Maybe those brewing vape recipes don't know what they're doing. Perhaps relying on the Internet to cook up the goods. Which sounds like a disaster in itself.
-- Maybe this problem has always been under the surface, and the papers are just now picking up on it.
-- Maybe it's something completely different. And tomorrow will bring the answer.
Or not.
Nobody knows at this point.
T obacco rates had been declining in America every year, and then these e-cigarettes caught on. And why not? They haven't been regulated much. They aren't cigarettes. They don't stink up your shirts and cause your parents to gripe. All the cool kids use 'em. Anybody who's anybody vapes, mom.
You can even find flavors like watermelon and cotton candy. What, not Skittles and Gummy Bears, too? All of this might remind you of your high school days, when your buddies masked the taste of hard liquor with some sort of cola or juice. If it tastes like a lollipop, then what's the harm? Answer: Perhaps a lot.
The president is involved, considering a policy that would ban flavored e-cigarettes in stores and online. But better than that, the First Lady is involved. She's said to be "deeply concerned" and has been tweeting about the "growing epidemic" of vaping among kids. That might be more helpful than anything. You know the saying about keeping Mom in a good mood: When she's happy, everybody's happy.
Anthony Mayo's father told the press that his family didn't realize the problems that vaping could cause. Not until tests showed his son's oxygen levels at 36 percent. (Anything under 90 percent is dangerous.)
"The flavors that they're coming out with ... . It's not for your construction worker who can't afford to light up at a building that they're working," he said. "Or the executive who is walking to a meeting smoking a cigarette. No, these flavors are all targeting kids or young adults."
He's right.
Our considered editorial opinion:
Go get 'em FDA.
Editorial on 09/23/2019