Stories of people falling ill and dying from vaping-related illnesses recently have captured the nation’s attention, making many Americans unnecessarily afraid of vapes. It’s also caused the public to point fingers at big targets like Juul and other large e-cigarette companies. But the public is misguided, because the issue isn’t vaping. It’s government.

There’s a common thread among the folks who have gotten sick from vaping. Based on what the CDC released about the cases so far, almost all of them have a history of vaping illicit Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the psychoactive substance in marijuana) products — not just legal nicotine e-cigarettes. That means there’s an easy fix to the problem: legalizing marijuana.

Thanks to intense regulation, the black market for THC-filled vape cartridges is flourishing, and that’s not exactly the safest forum to land pot products. Illicit THC oil suppliers have flooded the black market, and they aren’t known for using best practices when developing their oils. Police, for example, recently busted two men for manufacturing and distributing thousands of vape cartridges with homemade THC oil stored in mason jars in their home. Authorities, too, traced some of the illnesses back to an even bigger underground operation called “Dank Vapes,” which also sells THC oil illegally.

It’s no wonder people are getting sick.

In response to this outbreak, the federal government and a bunch of states have tried to come up with solutions. Michigan, New York, Washington, and Rhode Island temporarily banned sales of flavored vape juice, the most popular form of e-cigarette liquids among adults. San Francisco banned all e-cigarettes earlier this year, and Los Angeles could begin outlawing flavored e-cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, and hookahs. Massachusetts announced a four-month sales ban of all vaping products, which is forcing local vaping businesses to close as a result. The Food and Drug Administration proposed to clear the market of unauthorized products. And of course, President Trump wants to ban all flavored vaping products.

None of these options will do anything but make the situation much worse.

Legalizing marijuana, however, would be the swiftest fix, getting rid of the demand for black market THC products altogether. But that would require the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to deschedule cannabis — i.e., removing it from the federal list of controlled substances entirely, something businesses in the industry are calling for in light of this crisis. Congress can order the DEA to deschedule pot, which is a far less complex process.

As it stands, the DEA classifies marijuana under the most dangerous drug category that exists: Schedule I, the category for drugs they believe to be highly addictive with no medicinal purpose. This would be laughable if the effects of the classification weren’t so detrimental.

Cannabis has many health benefits and low abuse potential. Keeping it a Schedule I discourages states from legalizing marijuana while creating legal hurdles for the states that have already done so.

Yes, Attorney General William Barr has pledged to “look into” scientific evaluations of marijuana, which could lead to rescheduling (i.e. moving it down to Schedule II or III), but the urgency this vaping crisis requires is descheduling — a process that Congress should immediately begin.

Ultimately, history has made it very clear that no amount of laws or force can stop people from consuming drugs — so, the government might as well give up trying. Based on the current trend of political and social changes surrounding marijuana, it’s a reasonable assumption that most states will legalize eventually anyway. Many states are changing their laws to allow recreational cannabis sales and consumption, and New York, New Jersey, Arizona, Arkansas and Florida are on the brink of doing the same.

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Governor Newsom should deliver theme park guidelines ASAP But this legalization process needs to move a lot quicker, because people are dying at the behest of dumb regulations. With legalization comes safer products adults can buy from trusted sources that can be held accountable for any harm done. Safer access to legitimate vaping products will keep users from getting sick.

Federal flavored vape bans and nicotine e-cigarette bans won’t solve the problem at hand. The danger lies in illegal THC vape products, and people will continue to buy them so long as pot remains illegal. If the government would only become less obsessed with crushing legal marijuana sales, they’d finally get something right — and maybe save a few lives in the process.

Molly Davis is a policy analyst at Libertas Institute, a Utah based think tank, and a senior contributor at Young Voices. Follow her on Twitter @_molly_davis_.