It’s official. Tuesday, September 16th, New York became the first state to ban the sale of e-cigarettes with flavoring. This action taken against these e-cigarettes came from recent findings that the use of them is linked to an illness that is spreading throughout the United States. The Center for Disease Control has released results that this severe lung disease stems from the use of vapes, Juuls, and other electronic cigarettes. So far, 6 deaths have been attributed to the use of these devices. But this is just the beginning. There are over 450 cases of people with this lung disease.

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recently sent a letter to the Juul manufacturing labs about their concern for the deception and manipulation found in their marketing techniques. These companies have been claiming that the use of e-cigarettes is “totally safe”, which is a statement the 450 people hospitalized due to these “safe” products would object to.

The FDA also claims that if you vape, you are actually more likely to start smoking cigarettes than someone that doesn’t. While e-cigarettes were originally produced as a way to help those addicted to cigarettes end their addiction, it is spreading to people that weren’t using cigarettes before. This means that the devices originally created to ease people from smoking are really bringing more people to start it. Now vaping is present in the culture of a majority of schools, and teenagers are faced with the conflict. This is due to the way the vape companies are targeting the youth. They wouldn’t have fruit and candy flavoring if they weren’t trying to appeal to a certain group of people they think would buy their products the most, those who most enjoy the taste of fruit, candy, and rebellion. These people are teenagers.

President Trump has spoken out against these devices and the flavoring aspect recently, explaining his idea to ban flavored e-cigarettes instead of all of them. He claims this is because he wants to ward off kids from using them, but he likes the idea of e-cigarettes for people that are addicted to smoking regular cigarettes.

New York was the first state to ban these products, and it looks like others are not too far behind.