Vaporware

The man who got elected on the promise he’d stand up to special interests has, for the umpteenth time, caved to corporate pressure on a life-anddeath policy matter. First Donald Trump did it once, twice, three times on pressing basic gun safety measures. Now, on the eve of an administration order to ban sales of candy-, fruitand mint-flavored vaping fluids, it turns out he snuffed out those new rules due to bizarre fears about related job losses and worries his political base might resent the new regulations as a curb on their freedom.

Not long ago, Trump claimed to care about the fact that kids are getting hooked on e-cigarette devices by the hundreds of thousands.

That according to a 2019 federal survey, 27.5% of the nation’s high-school students report having vaped in the past 30 days, up from 20.8% in 2018.

That this happened because of aggressive if not deceptive marketing aimed at teenagers, as outlined by New York Attorney General Tish James in a new lawsuit against industry leader Juul.

That thousands of people are falling victim to vaping-related lung illnesses — most of which are connected to vaping of THC, but all of which have raised fresh concerns about the many unknown health effects of sucking vapor into youthful lungs.

“We can’t have our kids be so affected,” the president said in September.

Then the president folded. The unquestionable public health benefits of saving more young people from nicotine addiction can wait. There’s an election to win.