This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Tuesday, September 17th, 2019.

I'm Caleb Brown.

Another new idea from the White House, this one aimed at youth vaping,

ban flavored vaping products that are purportedly aimed at teenagers. The problem, as Cato's

Jeff Myron points out, is that it will likely have perverse health effects,

the least of which is making actual cigarettes relatively more attractive.

It will come as no surprise to anyone at the Cato Institute, but I am a vapor and

used to smoke off and on a bit as late as 2013 and since I discovered vapable nicotine products I am happy to say I haven't

had a cigarette since I'm know, middle of 2013.

So the Trump administration is discussing or plans to ban flavored e-cigarettes.

What does that mean? Banning the e-cigarette, flavored e-cigarettes. cigarettes.

What does that mean?

Banning the e-cigarette, flavored e-cigarettes means that the ability of people will not be able to buy versions

of vaping products in standard stores that taste like fruit juices. of to buy the flavors that are tobacco that are supposed to mimic the flavor of tobacco.

So it's weird because I think a lot of people who quit smoking and the health consequences of cigarettes and tobacco products,

or I should say un-refined tobacco products in a way are well known, well established.

We've known at least since, oh, I'd say about the 1700s,

that tobacco is not good for you.

So I guess what does this mean in terms of harm reduction that is trying to get people to stop using regular old tobacco products and move to something that is relatively safer.

So the evidence would suggest that the move to ban the flavored products, if anything, is going

to be perverse because at the margin it's probably going to get some people to go back to using regular cigarettes rather than using the e-cigarettes the vaping products.

The key difference being that with regular cigarettes you're getting both tar and nicotine and the tar seems to be by far in away the most dangerous aspect of smoking cigarettes, the one that contributes to lung cancer, emphysema, and related diseases.

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