Never before has a boon to public health been met with such hysteria and ingratitude.

Vaping is almost all upside in comparison with traditional smoking, a wanton destroyer of health and lives, and yet the nation is in the grips of a panic about e-cigarettes. //

Actually, there’s little evidence that vaping, as a general matter, is hazardous, and compared with traditional cigarettes it’s a refreshing kale and spinach smoothie after a brisk workout at your favorite Pilates studio.

Traditional smokers inhale a witch’s brew of carcinogens and carbon monoxide. Smoking accounts for 30% of all cancer deaths and 18% of all deaths. //

A credible estimate is that e-cigarettes, which involve inhaling a nicotine-infused vapor rather than smoke, are about 95% less harmful than cigarettes.

The vaping-related illnesses that have garnered headlines and prompted the regulatory actions appear not to implicate standard vaping but rather the use of black-market liquids containing THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.