Should e-cigarettes and vapes be included in tobacco tax in the United States, like in 16 EU countries?

For context, this is a question I answered on Quora

Yes,

1. They are a cigarette substitutes
2. Contain a highly addictive substance
3. Damage the lungs with aerosols that contain heavy metals, already have a pneumonia like illness named after them (look up vaping associated pulmonary illness) and increases your risk of bronchitis.
4. The medical fallout from widespread vaping inevitably gets paid for by the public through state medicaid reimbursements. Levying an excise tax on it like we already do with alcohol and tobacco products helps remunerate some of those costs.
5. An umbrella review published in the British Medical Journal found that adolescents and young adults who vape are 3x more likely to start smoking cigarettes compared to those who don’t vape so it is kind of a gateway drug.
6. The same review found they are 20% more likely to develop asthma and 44% more likely to worsen the condition for those who already have asthma (part of the medical fallout I mentioned in #4).

An excise tax helps remunerate the externalized costs of vaping on society, but avoids creating black markets and potentially ruining people’s lives more which criminalization would do.