The large decline in smoking in the late 1900s is one of the most underappreciated public health victories in U.S. history. While formerly a near majority of American adults smoked, now barely one in five do. This is good because it literally saves lives of both smokers and those around them exposed to secondhand smoke. The latter is particularly insidious as even people who didn't make an unhealthy decision still have to pay the price for it.
However, this is undercut by the rise in vaping in the last decade. E-cigarettes are marketed as a cleaner, healthier way to smoke — avoiding the stigma that rose around tobacco over the last 50 years. There is some truth to this, as they are safer than conventional cigarettes. But they're still not safe. Skydiving with a ripped-up blanket over a densely packed city is safer than doing it without any sort of parachute, but it's still not a good health decision nor one without societal dangers.
To start with, they still contain nicotine and are still addictive. So they're still, at best, an addictive and costly waste of time that fills your lungs with smoke. They also aren't presently regulated, so you can't know for sure just what is inside of them. They aren't even the best option for quitting smoking.
So what should we do about nicotine filled tubes that emit annoying smoke for bystanders to breathe? The same thing we did with cigarettes. It should be culturally unacceptable to vape in public areas or in media, as it encourages unhealthy, addictive and socially harmful behavior. Additionally, e-cigarettes should be subject to the same regulations as conventional tobacco products.
Furthermore, policies that ban smoking in public places, such as Tobacco Free USC, should apply to vaping as well. It's really the only way to finish stamping out tobacco use for good, and finally resolving one of America's public health crises.
Lord knows we'll be breathing enough chemical-filled smoke into our lungs after the EPA gets cut. No need to add secondhand vape to it as well.