Jay M. Pasachoff

Williamstown, Mass.

To the Editor:

The maladies linked to vaping that have recently sent hundreds to hospitals and even killed some are prompting calls to make vaping illegal, or at least to ban those cartridges with flavors designed to lure young people into nicotine addiction. But there’s already an existing mechanism to confront this problem, the same one that crippled Big Tobacco — liability suits. Set the personal injury lawyers on Juul and other e-cigarette makers and this situation will probably resolve itself.

Jim Baughman

West Hollywood, Calif.

To the Editor:

It is interesting to me that the Trump administration is reportedly considering a ban on flavored e-cigarettes. A number of people have died and many more made sick by these devices, so this seems a good direction for action. However, hundreds of people have died or been injured by gun massacres in our country. And so far neither the Trump administration nor Congress has moved to do something equally sensible to halt these deaths and injuries, such as a ban on high-powered rifles and ammunition. Isn’t it past time?

Margaret Lampe Kannenstine

Woodstock, Vt.

To the Editor:

Re “We Still Don’t Know How Safe Vaping Is” (editorial, Sept. 6):

The question of e-cigarette safety comes up frequently, but without consideration of the underlying context. If the alternative to vaping is not to smoke at all, then the latter is clearly the preferred option. But for those adults who use e-cigarettes as a means to cut down on their smoking, there can be benefits.

The challenge lies in differentiating between the two, and finding ways to regulate e-cigarettes so that those who can genuinely benefit have access, while not cultivating a new generation of smokers. Asking if e-cigarettes are safe in a vacuum is close to meaningless.

Ardesheer Talati

New York

The writer is an associate professor of clinical neurobiology at Columbia University.