In a panic over recent deaths and hospitalizations, New Jersey's political leaders are considering whether to ban e-cigarettes and risk driving the booming industry of vaping underground.
At the same time, they plan to push once again to legalize marijuana and capitalize on an industry that has flourished for decades on the black market.
To those who favor vaping, the term to describe using e-cigarettes, the contradiction is clear. While lawmakers who support a ban want to do so to keep the electronic nicotine devices away from children and maintain public safety, vaping advocates say one of the consequences would be that users will turn to a black market for e-cigarettes, which are also used to inhale marijuana.
One of the reasons elected officials in New Jersey want to legalize marijuana is to tax and regulate the drug.