The meeting at the White House regarding vaping turns unproductive and chaotic, with accusations flying and people shouting over each other. Trump is forced to end the meeting after an hour, realizing the complexity of the issue. This chaotic meeting reflects the broader debate surrounding vaping as a solution to one public health problem that has now created another.
When the vape brand Juul first hit the market back in 2015, e-cigarettes were in a kind of regulatory limbo. At the time, the rules that governed tobacco cigarettes did not explicitly apply to e-cigarettes. Then Juul blew up, fueled a public health crisis over teen vaping, and inspired a regulatory crackdown. But when the government finally stepped in to solve the problem of youth vaping, it may have actually made things worse.
Today's episode is a collaboration with the new podcast series "Backfired: the Vaping Wars." You can listen to the full series at
audible.com/Backfired.
This episode was hosted by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi and Leon Neyfakh. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and edited by Jess Jiang with help from Annie Brown. It was fact checked by Sofia Shchukina and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money
's executive producer.
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