In the Oval Office on Wednesday, President Trump announces a coming ban of flavored e-cigarettes as a sixth vaping-related death in the U.S. is headlined in Kansas.
“The Trump Administration is making it clear that we intend to clear the market of flavored e-cigarettes to reverse the deeply concerning epidemic of youth e-cigarette use that is impacting children, families, schools and communities,” says Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. “We will not stand idly by as these products become an on-ramp to combustible cigarettes or nicotine addiction for a generation of youth.”
Causality between e-cigarettes and fatal lung disease has not been established, but pulmonary and critical care specialist Dr. Farrah Kheradmand at Baylor College of Medicine has been studying the contrast between smoking standard combustible-tobacco products and vaping. Studying mice, she and her researchers found differences. “Exposure to electronic cigarettes did not cause the same inflammation or emphysema,” she tells KTRH News. E-cigarette smoke, she explains, affects the lining of lungs in mice, as it is presumed to in humans, and renders the lungs more vulnerable to infection. Contrary to advertising and popular opinion, e-cigarettes do not seem to be a safer way for someone struggling with a smoking addiction to transition to something better. “There is nothing safe about these compounds you are inhaling, though they are touted as safe.”
The Food and Drug Administration is finalizing the guidance they will release regarding a ban of flavored e-cigarettes which is expected within 30 days.