By Staff Writer Max Dean White  

Ever since vaping products hit the market back in 2003, they have been used by many for their own reasons. Users often site their reason as being a quick fix to relieve stress in the same way as traditional smoking. 

However, with growing concern from government authorities over the validity of the vaping companies’ marketing over the years has led many states to limit the sale of the product, with others banning it outright. While the consumption of vaping products has increased, many believe that it has been doing more harm than good for its customer base. 

Unlike most products that enter a newly created market, e-cigarettes and vaping products quickly became popular for the apparent health benefits that traditional smoking could not offer. Businesses began using these rumored benefits to their advantage by using it as a part of their marketing. 

Since this method of smoking seemed so different at the time, few questioned the possible danger that it might bring to smokers looking for a solution to break their habit, or an entire generation that became hooked on the product. 

To people that have already been smoking, vaping has always been a viable option for them to slowly turn away from the practice. Yet, an overwhelming majority of these people have continued smoking with no end in sight from treating vaping as an alternative. 

That’s because doctors and so called “health experts” have gone back and forth on the issue of whether or not it is even a safe method of turning away from smoking, giving users no choice but to accept the unfounded claims made by its producers. From its initial launch until very recently, their claims have lacked sufficient evidence that aligns. 

It has become evident that the only reason that these controversial products have remained on the market is because of the recently accepted consensus that its customers mostly consist of ex-smokers. However, new sources show that while the rate of ex-smokers transitioning remains steady, the rate of people regularly vaping with no smoking history has been rapidly increasing, especially among teenagers. 

More often than not, from vaping, teenagers have become exposed to nicotine, the highly addictive substance that has made it difficult for smokers to quit their habit.  

On September 24, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, declared a health emergency as a result of the unanswered questions still lurking about just how dangerous vaping is. Baker was left with little choice but to ban the sale of all e-cigarette and vaping products for the next 4 months in an effort to prevent users from developing an addiction. 

Many users have complained that while this does demonstrate government awareness of the issue, it may have been too extreme an action, since there have been next to no deaths from vaping. While the death statistic is minute, weakening lungs have led to shortness in breath and severe chest pains, which have a profound effect on frequent users’ health for the rest of their lives.  

This issue has now turned into a crisis with California also announcing on Tuesday that it prohibits vaping, and the states of New York and Connecticut joining forces on Wednesday to develop a lawsuit against vaping companies for false advertising the product as safe for teenagers. 

This comes after multiple lawsuits against manufacturers. Most notably, 44 year old Charles Wilcoxen filed a lawsuit for experiencing severe wheezing and difficulty breathing, arguing that the manufacturers “should have known the product was not safe for human consumption”. 

With the growing support to ban vaping products, the legal battles and the resignation of Juul’s CEO on Wednesday, the availability of these products has taken a sudden drop, affecting all those that have become hooked on vaping the most.