It’s considered an alternative to smoking cigarettes, yet it’s causing more harm than good.

With eight reported deaths in the United States and the number of reported related illness climbing daily, health officials from all over are calling for an end to vaping.

In Canada, health officials in Ontario and British Columbia are investigating four cases of severe lung diseases (one likely and three possible) linked to vaping products (also known as e-cigarettes), the Globe and Mail reports.

The likely case involves a high school student in London, Ont., who was hospitalized and on life-support at one point but has since recovered.

New York and Michigan have already banned sales of flavoured vaping products while U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to remove flavoured e-cigarettes from store shelves.

Health organizations in our country have called on Health Canada to curb the promotion of vaping products, restrict available flavours and regulate the nicotine levels.

But will it help end the cycle of harm — especially among youth?

Robert Schwartz, a senior scientist in the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and executive director of the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, believes so, but it will be tough.

“A total ban would be challenging for the (federal) government to do,” said Schwartz. “You have to ban all advertising and promotion. That’s how it (vaping) becomes normalized. Then, you have to get both flavoured (vape liquids) and ones with high nicotine concentrations out of convenience stores, and only make them available at vape shops to adults.”

Andy Ramkumar, who works at Gotham Vape in Queens, vapes at the store on September 17, 2019 in New York City. Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott issued a directive last Wednesday requiring public hospitals to provide the Chief Medical Officer of Health with statistics and non-identifying info related to pulmonary disease related to vaping.

Ministry of Health spokesperson David Jensen said prior to the directive, “hospitals could have potentially seen patients who fit the clinical profile of having vaping-related severe pulmonary disease and we wouldn’t necessarily know unless they voluntarily reported.”

“This first step will mandate hospitals to share this information as they identify patients who present with clinical profiles of the illness so that we can better understand the potential scope of this emerging issue and continue to engage experts to identify evidence-based solutions,” Jensen added.

Health Canada has heard the call for regulation on vaping products

In a statement to the Sun, while noting there’s no clear link between specific types or brand of vaping product to cases of severe pulmonary illness, the federal government does have regulations on vaping products under the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act and the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, which protect youth and non-tobacco product users from nicotine exposure and addiction as well as protect Canadians from the potential dangers of vaping products.

Recently proposed regulations include: Restricting advertisements of vaping products, additional measures for flavours and nicotine concentration and design of vaping products, and increased compliance and enforcement activities in relation to the prohibition of sale and promotion of product, to name a few.

“Health Canada is investing in research and surveillance to better understand the increase in youth vaping and to inform future regulations and public awareness and education campaigns,” the statement noted.

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THE BLOWBACK BEHIND VAPING

The controversy surrounding vaping — the inhaling and exhaling of nicotine-laced vapour via an electronic device — grows daily.

In the U.S., the number of confirmed and probable cases of respiratory illness linked to vaping has grown to 530, of which eight resulted in death. There are no vaping-related deaths in Canada thus far, but there have been four illness-related cases in Ontario and British Columbia.

What’s causing respiratory illnesses isn’t known.

One possibility, according to researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are residue deposits from inhaling vaping oils, like those containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — a marijuana ingredient, or vitamin E acetate, Reuters reported.

Vaping is popular among the younger crowd, which is concerning to health organizations such as Toronto Public Health.

Loren Vanderlinden, manager of healthy public policy with Toronto Public Health, said the organization “continues to actively monitor their visibility and use while raising awareness to educate the public — particularly parents, children and youth — about the health risks associated with vapour products.”

Schwartz warned while there are illness cases linked to vaping, it’s still important to keep in mind that the number is relatively low and there’s much more research needed on the subject.

“We do know that vaping will have long-term harm on the respiratory system,” said Schwartz. “We know smoking will kill long-term. We don’t know that yet about vaping.”