Vaping is a trend that has grown since 2011, according to Euromonitor International. What started as a method of assisting people to quit smoking cigarettes, as marketed by Juul and other vape manufacturers, has become a new way for non-smokers to be introduced to nicotine.

In light of six recent deaths in the U.S. that have been linked to the use of vaping products, there should be more regulation in order to protect the health of citizens who use them.

There are 450 possible cases of illnesses caused by vapor and smokeless tobacco products, as well as six confirmed deaths in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Oregon and California, according to a Sept. 6 CDC report. The CDC updated the report on Sept. 12 to only 380 confirmed cases of illnesses, but said that this number could continue to rise.

Not all the information is currently known about what caused these illnesses and deaths, such as what brand those affected were smoking, which should be frightening to people who use any e-cigarette. While the CDC continues its investigation, extreme caution needs to be exercised. It would probably be in the best interests for users to temporarily quit using vaping products because of the new and mysterious danger to their health.

The global population of adults who use vape products increased from about 7 million in 2011 to over 40 million in 2018, according to Euromonitor International. Even though these cigarette substitute products have become a worldwide phenomenon, it has especially grown in the U.S. Statistics from Euromonitor International show the U.S. was the leading market for vape products in 2018 with about $7 billion in sales, far ahead of second place U.K., which had about $2.5 billion in sales.

The issue has even prompted President Donald Trump to become involved. He made an announcement that he would be looking into banning flavored vaping products to protect Americans from the health hazard.

“We have a problem in our country,” said Trump in a Sept. 11 Oval Office media address. “It’s a new problem. It’s a problem nobody really thought about too much a few years ago, and it’s called ‘vaping’… There have been deaths, and there have been a lot of other problems.”

Even though not all Americans agree with Trump’s policies, the e-cigarette health hazard is an issue that has the possibility of affecting people on both sides of the political spectrum. It is a positive effort for the President to be concerned for consumers affected by this emerging health scare.

Citizens, politicians and the owners of vaping companies need to realize how dangerous these products may be to those who use them and take urgent action to curb their impact. It wasn’t until the late 1900s that the general public began to realize that cigarettes were causing lung diseases and cancer, according to the 1964 Surgeon General’s report.

This report prompted a decline in cigarette sales, along with labels on cigarette packages reading “may be hazardous to your health” starting in 1966, according to a January 2015 K. Michael Cummings and Robert N. Proctor medical article.

Vaping products may have solved one problem for those looking to quit smoking cigarettes, but they have the possibility of starting an entirely new problem that health experts do not yet have a solution for.