SCHOLAR: VAPEING A POLICY ISSUE

Background

Vaporizers or vapes are the newest trend that the youth are compelled to try. There are many flavours which can be bought at very minimal prices. To top it off there are even, “tricks,” which make this activity more appealing to our youth. In these “tricks,” people blow out smoke in patterns. Vaping is also known to reduce or enable one to quit smoking all together. Not much testing has been done on the potential side effects of this substance. Although, it was widely publicized in the news that it causes a respiratory condition known as, “popcorn lungs.” This condition referred to as bronchiolitis obliterans is a medical condition wherein the lungs get obstructed resulting from inflammation. Fast forward to today the American news media has discovered that a, “mysterious respiratory,” illness has caused the lives of several people who vape. This illness has hospitalized several people and have caused them to require intensive care and ventalizers. Public health officials have specified that they don’t know whether the problem lies with the devices or the ingredients of the vape fluid. As of August 16, 2019 at least 100 cases of this mysterious lung illness have been reported to authorities. Symptoms are not limited to dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain, fever, cough, vomiting and diarrhea. The officials at the Center for Disease Control are hard at work to determine the cause of this illness. Health officials have mentioned in a statement that those affected were vaping several substances including nicotine and thc. This public health issue needs to be addressed as it poses an increased risk to young people whom are enticed by the many flavors.  This is the jurisdiction of the public health office and it is their duty to monitor these incidents within our society. 

Considerations

The dose of the vaporizer was too high. Perhaps the potency needs to be limited or reduced.  Another consideration is that the route of inhaling the substance or the device was defective. Although according to an article on the Public Health England, "vaping is 95 percent less harmful than smoking," these users may need to consider quitting altogether.  We could fund seminars to encourage the use of vaping as a method of smoking cessation.  There is a possibility that the vape fluid in those devices where people became ill was contaminated or was manufactured in a way that did not comply with standards. We could place more strict regulation on the ingredients of vape fluid.  There is potential that there is an additive in the vape fluid that is causing the illness.  We may need to consider reevaluating the ingredients in vape fluid.  Moreover, it could be considered that the persons affected had a condition of health which was exacerbated by vaping. It is highly possible that those whom were affected by this, "mysterious respiratory disease," had a previous condition which caused this illness.  Lastly another consideration is, the persons affected was under legal age wherein their body was not physiologically mature enough to be able to handle the use of such device.

Conclusion

The problem here is the following, there are too many people experiencing respiratory distress from vaping. Clearly this has become a public issue and that many people, enough to garner the attention of the media, have experienced the vape related illness in question. Perhaps there is too little regulation on the manufacturing of vaporizers and vape products. Manufacturers may need to change the manufacturing process and they may need to look at their production lines to see if any potential risk exist. There needs to be more research on the side effects of vaping. The scientific community may need to conduct more research on this subject matter to determine if there are any other risks the product may bear. The stake holders for this issue are the smokers or users, the government and the manufacturers.  The cost of vaping is cheaper than the cost of cigarettes, but it seems the ability for vaporizers to cause illness is much quicker than that of cigarettes as the majority of those whom were implicated by this, "mysterious respiratory disease," were the youth.