Should vapes be banned or is it going overboard?

The Dangers of Flavors (Illustration by Kennedy Wade) The government should ban vaping flavors in order to curb teen usage.

This editorial reflects the views of the Le Journal staff. Eighteen out of 20 members voted in favor of this editorial.

Mint, strawberry and butterscotch. Sounds appealing, but when concerning products that contain nicotine, the goal shouldn’t be to attract young people.With the recent deaths and hundreds of illnesses reported associated with vaping, the government needs to review the risks associated with this practice. In order to curb more teenagers from vaping, the government should issue a federal ban on vaping flavors, besides tobacco.

With flavors ranging from sweet strawberry shortcake to refreshing cucumber mint, the flavor options are endless. These indulgent-sounding flavors are one of the reasons why the younger generation has been so attracted to vaping. While vape companies like Juul say they aren’t marketing towards the younger generation, they continue to make flavors like bubble gum that appeal mainly to younger buyers.

Four out of five kids started using vapes with flavored pods, according to Flavors Hook Kids. Thirty-one percent of kids start and continue vaping because of the flavors available, according to the Truth Initiative. If it wasn’t for the vast amount of appealing flavors, most teens wouldn’t have started in the first place and wouldn’t be at the point of addiction.

The main addictive chemical in pods, also known as the e-liquid cartridge, is nicotine. Pods contain the same amount of nicotine as roughly one pack of cigarettes, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. Teenagers with developing brains are much more likely to get addicted, especially to nicotine, according to the Truth Initiative. This makes teenagers vaping even more susceptible to addiction and the dangers associated with vaping. Since teens are so vulnerable to addiction, the government should be trying to caution teens from starting to vape as much as possible and work to make vaping less appealing to them.

With more teens picking up vapes, the dangers should also be considered. Early age nicotine addiction can harm brain development and alter nerve cell functioning, having lasting effects on teens, according to the Truth Initiative. Furthermore, vapes and e-cigarettes have only been regulated by the Food and Drug Administration since 2016, so no one truly knows the effects long term vaping will have on a person’s body, brain and lungs.

Vaping companies make most of their revenue off of flavored products as opposed to the classic tobacco flavor which is supposed to taste like a cigarette, according to Nielsen data. Tobacco flavoring, therefore, should be kept since it should be the most appealing to former smokers, the audience e-cigarette producers say they are marketing to.

Flavors besides tobacco make up about 85 percent of Juul’s total sales, according to Juul company officials. The flavors making the news for the amount of teens using them, mango and mint, made up about 74 percent of Juul’s sales, according to Neilsen data. From this data, it is reasonable to assume vape companies like J are marketing to teens with appealing flavors for profit.

The state of Michigan recently banned all flavored e-cigarettes besides the tobacco flavoring, according to the Washington Post. Other cities in the Bay Area have also banned the flavored e-liquids. While these are steps in the right direction, it shouldn’t be up to the state and city governments to ban flavors - it should be the federal government.

Many teenagers start and continue to use vapes because of the appealing flavors associated with them. In order for future generations to not join the trend, these appealing flavors need to be banned. The risk of easily contracted nicotine addictions are a danger to teens especially with many risks associated. For teens to stop using vapes, the government must be willing to take the step and ban the flavors.

Along with banning flavors, there should be multiple help programs for teens who are already addicted to have a way out without turning to extreme measures like cigarettes. There should also be more education on the dangers of youth vaping to discourage teens from the exotic flavors.

We must prioritize the people and the youth over the profits of the company. Companies like Juul should only be geared to and used by the targeted audience - getting smokers away from cigarettes, not a money grab at teens.

(Illustrations by Ava Stoltz and Kennedy Wade)

Four out of five teens start using vapes with flavored pods (according to Flavors Hook Kids) Young adults who use vapes are four times more likely to pick up a cigarette within 18 months (according to the Truth Initiative) 68 percent of high-school aged e-cig users prefer flavored pods (according to the FDA)