America has been engaged in a battle against smoking for the majority of the past century.  Although it was even longer ago when the trend began, mainstream society didn’t become aware of the health risks associated with smoking until fairly recently and has been grappling with the deep-seated addiction ever since.

Smoking’s resilience is largely due to tobacco companies’ ability to pivot their product and, even more importantly, their marketing strategies in the blink of an eye. Popular electronic cigarette company Juul, for example, is partially owned by well-known corporate giant Marlboro, famous for producing and distributing massive amounts of cigarettes in the late twentieth century, originally packaging them to appear healthy and safe. This tactic, however, was stopped by President Richard Nixon in 1970 when he signed an act revoking the privilege to advertise cigarettes on TV.

Decades later, though, history has begun to repeat itself. Despite the company’s claims that its products are designed solely for adults, Juul has been repeatedly accused of engineering their marketing to appeal to younger generations with social media campaigns depicting young adults vaping against bright, colorful backgrounds.

The country’s awareness of this issue has been rising consistently alongside the brand’s popularity, and this past Tuesday state health officials voted to carry out New York Governor Cuomo’s ban on the sale of most flavored e-cigs. Although the need for change is urgent, this is a drastic step in the wrong direction.

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According to the CDC, smoking is responsible for over 480,000 deaths per year in America, with about 41,000 of those the result of secondhand smoking.

The situation is dire, and becomes more so every day. But banning the sale of an unhealthy product in an effort to prevent it from falling into the hands of young people remains an extreme reaction and one that could carry with it dangerous repercussions.

If American adults are provided the opportunity to properly educate themselves on the risks — which they are through legally enforced labeling — they should have the right to ultimately make that decision for themselves.

E-cigarettes also serve purposes outside of simply feeding one’s addiction. In fact, they are often effectively used by smokers who are trying to quit.

Dessa Bergen-Cico, a professor at SU’s David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and coordinator of the Addiction Studies Program, said that e-cigarettes received federal approval because of their ability to help smokers quit.

“One of the ways they were originally able to get FDA approval and get on the market the way they were is because you could step down with smaller doses of nicotine, so people could taper down their use while they wean themselves off the physiological dependency,” Bergen-Cico said.

This isn’t to say that no action should be taken at all. Governor Cuomo’s ban currently targets almost all of the available e-cigarette flavors, but some can be far more harmful than others.  Bergen-Cico said that menthol based flavors such as mint, for instance, can open airways allowing for greater absorption of nicotine than other products.

A less radical solution could be the banning of these flavors and temporary allowance of others that are accompanied by fewer risks so that they’re still available to those that would like to use them responsibly.

When all’s said and done, the government limiting what products can and cannot be purchased because of their respective health benefits doesn’t belong within a capitalist free market economy like the United States. Freedom of the buyer is strongly emphasized within our financial systems, and an individual’s ability to make such decisions should be limited only by their understanding of the accompanying consequences.

Dylan Williams is a freshman in the transmedia department. His column appears bi-weekly. He can be reached at dwilli39@syr.edu. He can be followed on Twitter @_DylanFox_.

Published on September 24, 2019 at 3:36 am