Vaping is bad for kids. But don’t let the government ban it for adults | Letter to the editor

As a parent, the youth vaping epidemic has been a huge cause for concern. Thankfully, over the past few months, President Trump and his administration have made a concerted effort to take action to keep vaping products out of the hands of minors.

It started last year, when President Trump held a roundtable at the White House with concerned parties who came together to discuss solutions to the vaping epidemic. Later in the year, President Trump signed into law a bill that raised the legal age of purchasing tobacco products to 21. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration announced new guidelines on vaping products that would ban most flavors, especially fruity flavors targeted toward minors.

These critical actions will undoubtedly reduce minors’ access to e-cigarette products, as many receive them from social sources, like high school seniors that turned 18 before the end of the year. And limiting the flavor options will also limit the appeal to minors.

Unfortunately, Democrats are now trying to promote prohibition on legal adults 21 and older from using certain tobacco products. While we can all agree that we need to address the teen vaping epidemic, Democrats should not be making the choice for legal adults.

Prohibition didn’t work in the 1920s and Democrats shouldn’t be trying to take us backward. Congressman Vern Buchanan should oppose Democrats’ plans to criminalize legal adults who choose to purchase flavored tobacco products.

Rebecca Taylor

Sarasota

This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Vaping is bad for kids. But don’t let the government ban it for adults | Letter to the editor."