Welcome to the briefing room with me, David Oronovich. Let's imagine we're in a large room,

in a converted warehouse perhaps, crammed with reference books, charts, maps, and a small

army of leading experts who in the next half hour can tell us everything we might want to know

about the burning issues of the day. Or this week, the vaping issue of the day,

are e-cigarettes dangerous?

And if you enjoy this podcast,

you might enjoy some of our other episodes,

for example, the one on the opioid epidemic in the US.

You can find it on BBC Sounds.

Music The President is worried. We have a problem in our country.

It's a new problem.

Nobody really thought about too much a few years ago,

and it's called vaping, especially vaping as it pertains to innocent children.

We can't allow people to get sick, and we can't have our youth be so affected.

After news emerged in America of a growing number of deaths linked to the use of electronic

cigarettes, the federal government and many US states have made

moves to ban the sale of the products. Other countries such as India are following suit.

But some experts believe that vaping is relatively harmless, and besides, it has a useful role

to play in helping people to give up smoking. So what I want to find out this week is, why have these cigarettes become so popular

and what are the risks of using them?

To vape or not to vape?

Step inside the briefing room and let's find out.

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