Recently, the Indian government banned Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) or e-cigarettes. This has followed the recent scares in the US where 805 people (as of September 27 ) have reported severe lung diseases, presumably caused by these e-cigs. As of the same date, 12 people have died, according to the CDC. The vape ban has ruffled quite a few feathers too, but the protests haven’t gathered much steam across Indian cities and have since fizzled out.

I thought this was the best move anyone could have made. Good riddance to e-cigarettes! If they could injure people so much quicker than cigarettes ever could, we need to get rid of them quickly and definitively...right?

Before we go any further, let me explain why I’m so anti-vape. I’ve been a smoker for 20 years of my life, and quit just 4 years ago. I have a grudge against harmful addictions and the companies that sell them to kids. It’s infuriating because what happened to me is now happening again to a whole new generation of youth through this shiny new thing called an e-cigarette – the perfect way to snag the young and tech obsessed.

Turns out my first reaction wasn’t completely justified, even if my anger probably is. The answers aren’t quite that simple. I’ll get to why I changed my mind a little bit later, but first, we need to get some facts straight.

Vaping is harmful

You might have read about this from other sources, with responses going all over the place. The reason for this is, we still have a lot of questions. However, there is a lot of evidence sliding towards the claim that e-cigarettes are harmful, but we still don’t know what the causes are precisely, what are the chemicals responsible and the risk factors involved. The research is still very nascent because vaping is still so new.

E-cigarettes may not be safer than cigarettes

We are sure that vaping has its dangers, but we aren’t sure yet about how they compare to cigarettes. ENDS manufacturers have claimed in their marketing that vaping is safer than smoking since the materials aren’t burnt. Still, they are heated just enough to be vaporised. Some organisations still think vapes are safer than smoking, but the recent cases of people getting severe respiratory diseases have thrown that into doubt. When more research is done, we would have a clearer idea of the effects of vaping.

With cigarettes, we have decades of data that leave almost no doubt that cigarettes significantly increase your risks of multitudes of diseases and death. With vapes, we only have a few years of data. There’s no consistency in the market, no regulation of ingredients and very preliminary medical studies too. We can only say that yes, there are grave risks involved with vaping, we just don’t know all the specifics yet.

Some people have claimed that vaping has helped them quit smoking. While anecdotal evidence is always compelling, we need more conclusive empirical evidence to support this claim.

It’s not only the flavoured or the dank vapes that are harmful

Many are claiming that only the flavoured and marijuana vapes are harming people. Fruit flavoured vapes attract younger adults and teens, which puts them in harm’s way. This is quite probably true. A study published in July in the American Heart Association journal confirms that flavoured vapes may damage the heart and blood vessels.

But it’s not just flavoured cigarettes causing all the harm. E-cig fluid contains mainly propylene glycol, nicotine, glycerol, water, flavourings and preservatives. A study has determined that the droplet sizes in the vapour inhaled can be a factor in determining health outcomes. Another study found pyrazine additives in e-cigarettes, which enhance nicotine addiction and also potentially damage the reproductive system.

Aldehydes are another group of harmful chemicals found in ENDS. A research study has shown that the respiratory uptake of formaldehyde and acetaldehyde is greatly increased when vaping.

Along with these, harmful metals like lead, nickel, chromium, aluminium, tin and cadmium have also been found in vape fluid. These are well known as carcinogens that can potentially cause lung and sinonasal cancer, oral cancer and others.

According to a study by the New England Journal of Medicine of 53 patients, 84% of them were regularly smoking THC laced flavoured vapes. Some of these come with the label “Dank Vapes“, which is a bit dubious because they don‘t seem to be coming from a company or a brand that sources from various companies. One thing we do know is that these are from unlicensed manufacturers who are just filling up cartridges with goodness knows what.

Some of the THC vapes also contain Vitamin E Acetate, which is used as a thickening agent in the fluid. The CDC considers this one of the prime suspects in the disease as it condenses in the lungs. The FDA has also put out a warning about THC laced vape fluid.

Was the Vape Ban legit?

My first reaction was that this was the right move and that vapes should be taken off the market until we understand them better and create regulations and standards to make them safe to use for adults. It turns out, this answer is as unclear as the rest of the evidence in this case.

However, bans have a tendency of taking products into the black market where their quality can be even dodgier. It may even lead to people buying ingredients separately to make their own capsule refills, which could also be disastrous.

This happened in the 1920s during the prohibition of alcohol in the US, it’s happening now in India due to the beef ban, and all over the world with illicit drugs and narcotics. There’s no reason to believe it won’t happen for vapes too.

It’s also important to note that 20 countries across the world have banned vapes. There is a legitimate concern for its effect on people’s health. Personally, I would love for countries to ban smoking of any sort, but the industry lobbies are strong, they support politicians and can also yield significant revenues through taxes. Plus, if they are banned, they will all go underground.

Taking a side is harder than I thought. As I said, my first instinct was to wipe vapes off the face of the earth. This would minimise the harm caused to people, but the truth is, it’s quite possibly going to go underground, which may prove to be worse. It’s better to have a phenomenon open to scrutiny and regulation rather than pushing it into the back alleys where it can thrive without oversight. Lifting the ban may be better than what people are subjected to if ENDS become illicit. Those not willing to go underground may just switch over to smoking regular cigarettes, the harm of which we know only too well.

However, there is a need for severe regulations and restrictions with heavy fines for selling to minors, extreme scrutiny on the ingredients and a crackdown on the black market and flavoured varieties.

In the meantime, research must continue on priority with plenty of funding. If any more people fall sick, the brands they have consumed must be held accountable. Fortunately, Juul, one of the most prominent brands in the market, have agreed to cooperate with authorities in the US.

I think this is a great opportunity to learn from the mistakes made when cigarettes first entered the market. We must not allow the industry to control the information. We must promote independent research, government regulations and scientific scrutiny of the ingredients that go into each product with an evidence-based approach.

Conclusion

Humans seem to love caving to peer pressure, addiction and desires that are bad for their health and those around them. I am one such human, so I’m not judging anyone. This is just the way we are.

I honestly think the government did well to ban vapes but they don’t seem to have thought through the consequences of their actions. This could do much more harm but maybe to fewer people.

The truth is, this is a hard conversation since we know so little of the phenomenon. But we still can learn a lot to learn from it.

India and other countries need to be much more careful about the products that go onto the market, especially those that have direct effects on people’s health.

Products that can be consumed like vapes, drinks, supplements and foods need to prove they are safe for consumption before being allowed onto the market. If we do not enforce such regulations, profit will always come before people.

What do you think of the vape ban and vaping in general? Should e-cigarettes be banned or not? Let me know by visiting www.berationable.com and leaving a comment on the transcript of this episode. You’ll also find all the references I’ve used and further reading I recommend on the topic.

References & Further Reading

Rationable

An ex-smoker changed his mind about India’s vape ban