When I lived in Dublin in the 1980s I knew an ex-IRA man. 

He was something of a legend. He’d done his time. Changed his ways. Moved from Northern Ireland to the Republic.

In a pub one night, he told me a story I never forgot. He explained that the IRA operated on a cell system. It was organized into small groups of men and women who had no knowledge about what other cells were up to or what the hierarchy was doing. That way, when members were captured they were of limited intelligence value.

He led a cell of about eight paramilitaries when they were all arrested in the 1970s.

The authorities immediately separated the men and began interrogations. Within a day, he told me, the smokers were so desperate for cigarettes that they spilled their guts.

When he was released from prison, he refused to work with smokers.

“You ran a non-smoking IRA cell after that?” I asked, bemused. 

“Wanted nothing to do with them,” he said, nodding. “Smokers were too easy to break.”

He was smart. These suspects were willing to risk brutal retribution from their comrades - for want of a cigarette - showing just how powerful nicotine addiction is and how badly it warps your thinking skills.

Which brings us to vaping. A method of ingesting nicotine without the smoke.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins acknowledge that while not all of the chemical compounds in vape products are known, vaping is likely less harmful than smoking.  “There’s almost no doubt that they (e-cigarettes) expose you to fewer toxic chemicals than traditional cigarettes.” 

Faint praise. 

Giving adult smokers another way to satisfy their cravings is one thing. Giving teens a method to become addicted to nicotine without the telltale signs of smoking is another.

So, the Trump administration announced yesterday that it’s about to ban the sale of flavored vape products, because studies show that young people - especially minors - are attracted to the sweet offerings.

According to NPR, bubble gum, mango and mint flavored e-cigarettes are enormously popular among teens. So much so that the secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, said yesterday that “more than a quarter of high school students used e-cigarettes in 2019.

"We are seeing a continued surging of middle school and high school children using e-cigarettes, increasing frequency of their use and children being drawn in by flavored cigarette products," Azar said at a news conference.

This is not good. Vaping is as addictive as cigarettes. The younger they start, the more difficult it is to quit.

I’m not a fan of government bans. Adults should be free to do stupid things. They can roller skate down flights of stairs if they want. They can smoke. They can drink. They can eat until they weigh 500 pounds. 

They can vape.

Frankly, it’s the job of parents to make sure their kids are not being suckered into a habit that could make them sick. Parents should be the ones making the no-vaping rules.

Lacking that, government should step in to protect young people from early addictions that will last a lifetime. We know that Big Tobacco marketed cigarettes to youngsters for decades. With deadly results. There are signs that’s happening again with e-cigarettes, despite denials by the manufacturers.

On top of that, there have been alarming reports recently of serious respiratory illnesses linked to vaping. And six deaths.

Tobacco-related cancers and heart disease take decades to manifest. It’s alarming that illnesses seem to be arising so much quicker in some who vape. The government ban should be temporary until there is thorough research on what exactly is in e-cigarettes and what long-term effects those chemicals will have on users.

Are the feds overreacting to anecdotal reports of vaping hazards?

Nope.

After all, it was the FDA in the 1950s that kept thalidomide out of the U.S. That drug, developed in Germany and believed to be so harmless it was sold over-the-counter to alleviate the misery of morning sickness, turned out to be monstrous. Thalidomide resulted in terrible - often fatal - birth defects. Thousands of babies in Europe were born with missing limbs. America was spared all of that, thanks to the FDA.

The government should stop e-cigarette companies from marketing addictive products aimed at kids.

At the same time, the feds should keep their paws and laws off of adults who want to vape.