Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

Back in February 2020, the Food and Drug Administration, which was still a robust agency that had serious people thinking about what we should and shouldn’t be putting in our bodies based on science not conspiratorial folklore, banned flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes.

Vapes.

Not all flavorings. Just things like mint and fruit. Flavors that kids find appealing.

And it was far from being any sort of jack-booted ban on vapes because (1) other flavors were still available and (2) the devices targeted by the ban were cartridges and pre-filled pods, meaning things like refillable and open-tank systems are still available.

While this might have been considered some sort of liberal overreach meant to keep the freedom of absorbing nicotine in flavorful ways, it is interesting to note that this past March Utah — no one’s idea of a liberal haven — essentially banned vapes, period.

According to reporting in The Salt Lake Tribune, vape shop owners challenged a state law passed in 2024 that “banned popular flavored vape juices — like watermelon and bubblegum — as well as those with more than 4% nicotine content and any products that have not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.”

A US District judge upheld the ban.

So it seems that those in Utah who are looking for a watermelon fix without eating watermelon will have to have a Jolly Rancher or Sour Patch flavored candy. Those whose tastes turn to bubblegum can have, well, bubblegum.

Vaping is sometimes argued to be a means through which people who smoke cigarettes can quit. Not only is there the oral substitution, but there’s nicotine in vapes. Less than in a Marlboro, but not zero.

Of course, most people who need to quit smoking and have a difficult time kicking nicotine probably haven’t been smoking bubblegum-flavored cigarettes.

According to the UK’s National Health Service, “Switching to vaping reduces your exposure to toxins that can cause cancer, lung disease, and diseases of the heart and circulation like heart attack and stroke.”

Note “reduces.” It doesn’t eliminate the toxins, just provides fewer of them.

And while the NHS acknowledges that vaping can help smokers quit, it also acknowledges, “Vaping has not been around for long enough to know the risks of long-term use. While vaping is less harmful than smoking, it is unlikely to be totally harmless.”

A text ad in a Politico newsletter sponsored by The Vapor Technology Association reads:

“The US vaping industry and the thousands of small businesses it supports were crushed by the Biden Administration, which used broken policies and regulations to keep flavored vapes out of the country and hands of American consumers.

“But President Trump and his administration can save flavored vapes – and the Americans who depend on them to quit smoking.

“President Trump, American vapers and small businesses nationwide are counting on you.”

The rhetoric is great.

“Thousands of small businesses.”

“Crushed by the Biden Administration.” 

“Broken policies and regulations.”

You can just picture the cabal of political hacks finding the ways to underhandedly “keep flavored vapes out of the country and hands of American consumers.”

Bastards!

But, of course, Trump can “save flavored vapes.” 

All of the vapers who enjoy a good mango or strawberry puff are counting on the president to save them from extinction.

But there could be a fly in the vape juice.

According to the website VapeBreaker, “Your go-to source for the latest vaping news, expert reviews, and comprehensive guides,” the “Father of Modern Vaping” is “Hon Lik, a Chinese pharmacist and smoker who wanted to quit cigarettes after his father passed away from lung cancer. Desperate for a better solution than nicotine patches or gum, Hon Lik developed a device that used a piezoelectric ultrasound element to vaporize a nicotine-infused liquid.”

That’s right: the vape is a Chinese invention.

China, China, China.

Somehow, if Trump finds out he may not be particularly interested in promulgating a Chinese technology.

Still, perhaps The Vapor Technology Association has a few bucks in its coffers that they can donate to assure America Will Be Made Great Again through devices that expose people to fewer toxins.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.