Saying that nicotine is bad for teens, however well studied or proven, does not mean that the new e-cig market is bad for teens. It does not follow. The arguments are facile at best and ultimately what most sane people call non sequitur — it does not follow that…
It could be argued, and certain surveys could show, that stress and anxiety among teens not old enough to vote is elevated during presidential election years. The key sources of this psychological impairment are news coverage and the sense of political powerlessness. Therefore we should strive to prevent teens from having access to political information until they are 18. Because this is impossible, we should outlaw voting altogether.
The onset of war is often hazardous to the health and safety and psychological stability of 17 year old males.
Or, make the same argument about pornographic material or sex education or access to birth control.
As a matter of fact, we should ban or punitively regulate any aspect of social or cultural behavior not deemed “safe for children,” if we follow this reasoning. We should not glorify or otherwise show the “supposed value” of driving a car to anyone under 18, or to anyone at all, considering that motor vehicle accidents kill well over 2,000 people each month, and injure twice as many. Training children to drive vehicles is hazardous to their health and psychological development in a variety of ways. As a matter of fact, all of this “car talk” and “advertising” of sexy, cool vehicles is likely to trick teens into joining a culture of “dependency” on a harmful product.
Perhaps it can be seen as the height of foolishness to draw simple lines in the sand about age and appropriate knowledge or behavior. But, even if we understand that teens should avoid the perils of addiction, exploitation, and certain chemical brain damage, why not ban molly-pushing superstars like Miley Cyrus, or women endorsing risky sexual behavior like FKA Twiggs? Certainly they “target” teens by the sheer fact that teens are interested in them.
Maybe we can remember that kids have real families and real social relationships to encourage and guide normative behavior. Maybe we can understand that an adult market for adult products is one that can be managed by adults. Anymore than the hardware store proprietor is encouraging teen crime by selling all kinds of spray paint, the vape vendors are not corrupting or damaging children. The political disavowal of personal freedom and responsibility does that just fine on its own.