protect public health? While that's what you typically hear, I think there's another important

explanation. After all, there are lots of unhealthy products that nobody's trying to

ban. One reason vaping, in particular, is being

targeted is due to lobbying from big businesses. Namely, tobacco companies. Hold on. Aren't

some of the people pushing for bans on e-cigarettes the same folks who used to lobby against big

tobacco? Absolutely. Many anti-tobacco activists have become anti-vaping

activists. Saying that just like regular cigarettes, e-cigarettes could be dangerous for people's

health or that they could send the wrong message to kids.

Now those activists find themselves on the same side as their formal foes since tobacco

company lobbyists are fighting e-cigarettes, too. They're worried about their bottom line.

Studies show that vaping is twice as effective as other methods in helping people quit smoking.

By pushing for regulations that make e-cigarettes less accessible to consumers they ensure that

more people will keep smoking tobacco. We've got a classic case of what some scholars call

the "Bootleggers and Baptists Phenomena." Well-intentioned activists end up pushing

for the same rules in the interests they actually oppose. This helps lend all the lobbying efforts

an air of legitimacy. They can claim it's for public health.

Meanwhile, most of the lobbying money is on the side interests that don't care about health.

They care about getting an unfair advantage over their competitors by using government

regulations to work in their favor. The tobacco company, RJ Reynolds, has even

hedged their bets by starting to make their own brands of e-cigarettes, while simultaneously

lobbying for bans against other types of e-cigarettes. The kinds they don't make. Claiming that those

kinds are a bigger health risk. Talk about an unfair advantage.

Unfortunately, situations like this are not uncommon. In every industry, you'll find businesses

that are using their money to lobby the government to get regulations passed that look like they're

in the public interest, but actually benefit them at the expense of their competitors.

Doesn't it seem wrong that these big businesses get to decide what you do with your body and

your property? Isn't that for you to decide? A better approach would be allowing individuals

and property owners to decide where e-cigarettes can be used ... not to enact regulations that

make it harder for smokers to quit.