The US is on the verge of instigating a country-wide ban on flavored E Juice and this, like prohibition before it, will create more problems than it solves…
Whenever you read the news or listen to podcasts on societal issues and policy, do you ever get the impression that the US government loves crime? Like it loves it so much that it’ll do anything to ensure it exists inside the country, whatever the cost?
State-wide flavor bans are the first step towards a new era of prohibition in the United States. Only this time it will be life-saving vape products that come under the righteous hammer of federal authorities. And the reason? Made up facts about the number of teenagers vaping in the US.
It doesn’t seem to matter that vaping has the potential to save millions of lives during the next 10 years. Not when there is the potential to pal-up with Big Pharma and score some liberal points by feigning an interest in the well being of the nation’s children.
Vaping Can Save 6.6 Million Lives Inside The Next Decade
According to a study conducted by BMJ, if vapes largely replaced cigarettes over a 10-year period 6.6 million lives could be saved. That is a HUGE number. It is also why the UK is now ALL ABOUT vaping in its fight against tobacco smoking.
In the US, however, it’s a much different story: we have politicians that are actively affiliated with Big Pharma and Big Tobacco pushing through draconian laws and regulations on behalf of their paymasters. And no one seems at all bothered by this?
Why? Simple: they lie to you and say they’re doing it because they care about kids. Your kids. Which they don’t. It’s all about money and catering to the needs of monied special interests. And if you don’t believe me just look at the relationship between the FDA and Monsanto.
Banning flavors because a few kids have vaped is like banning peanuts because a few thousand people die every year from ingesting them. It’s ridiculous. Also: is this really anything to do with the FDA? Surely it is parents’ responsibility to ensure their children don’t smoke or vape, no?
Banning E Juice Flavors Will Create An E Juice Black Market
Banning flavors is like banning access to Pirate Bay; people will always find a way to access things, just as they have done with drugs like cocaine and speed for the past several decades. Making something illegal isn’t progress or “a win” – it’s just shirking responsibility, moving the goal-posts so you no longer have to deal with it.
It is probably the laziest move any government could make. Just look at how well the whole pot thing has gone for Canada and select US states. Colorado is actively bailing out its neighboring states with the profits it is making from cannabis!
Rather than adopting a progressive approach to drug problems, as they do in Portugal, for instance, the US simply creates a never-ending slew of criminals to fill its prisons. Back in the 1970s, you could get life in prison for possessing a single joint. Fast-forward to 2019, and cannabis is now legal in quite a few states.
If these flavor bans come into effect on a national scale, black markets will appear everywhere. People will make their own E Juice and sell it via forums. Like anything else modern and criminal, it will be impossible to police and create more issues in the long run.
For instance: right now E Juice in the USA is made to exacting standards. It is made in labs by reputable companies. Retailers don’t sell stuff that is dodgy, as they’d quickly get lambasted by their patrons. Crooks get found out and bad products don’t survive. It’s not perfect, but it works.
If you ban flavors, the following things would happen overnight:
- A generation of bootleggers would appear, selling dubious E Juice via forums and the dark web.
- The ingredients wouldn’t be great; it’d also be impossible to verify the quality – you could be vaping pure alcohol for all you know.
- Thousands of companies, reputable ones that have helped millions of smokers quit without any tax money whatsoever, would go out of business more or less overnight.
- Angry vapers would attempt to make their own E Juice and, without the requisite knowledge, could end up poisoning themselves or somebody else.
The Alternative? An E Juice Black Market Would Be Bad…
Nobody wants a black market. Nobody except drug dealers and criminals. They’d love it because they could make money. This scenario needs to be avoided at all costs.
E Juice should be regulated. Minors should not be allowed to vape, which they aren’t – it’s already the law. The FDA should work with producers to create standards that all E Juice makers have to adhere to. Doing this would ensure all American E Juice is of the highest quality.
And, yes, vape products should be taxed.
Why? Simple: once the feds start making money off of vaping, they’ll leave it alone. All they really understand is money. And as soon as they get a taste they’ll be hooked for life.
This is the only reason why you can still buy cigarettes; the US government is addicted to tobacco money. It simply cannot quit the billions of dollars it generates.
And, lest we forget: cigarettes KILL around 7 million people a year.
You’d think with all the smart people that work at the FDA they’d have figured this out by now. That by banning flavored E Juice they will effectively create a new generation of bootleggers – only this time it won’t be moonshine they’re peddling, it’ll be flavored E Juice!
You’d think they’d see how other countries are using vaping as a tool to reduce smoking rates to historic lows. But then no other government on earth is so beholden to special interests as the USA’s. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about Big Sugar, Big Tobacco, or Big Pharma – money talks and money makes regulations.
All we can hope is that common sense prevails. And if it doesn’t, well, we’ll just have to take to the streets and protest our rights as vapers. People protest for far less in this day and age. And we’re not just talking about vaping here – we’re talking about 6+ million lives being saved inside the next decade.
Let’s just hope America’s love of being on the wrong side of history falters and some common sense prevails during the next 12 months…
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