If Benjamin Franklin was right, that it’s a wise person who is at war with his vices and at peace with his neighbors, then the recent proliferation of smoke and vape shops in Colorado is an ominous and incendiary sign of trouble.

In our quiet Mountain Shadows neighborhood on the west side of Colorado Springs, a new smoke and vape shop has recently opened. Facing the store, the good folks at Pikes Perk are situated to the right and Papa Murphy’s Pizza is to the left. There’s also a Josh & John’s Ice Cream shop and the Super Quality Dry Cleaners in the same row of stores. Sadly, Subway recently moved out.

Of those five current establishments, which one doesn’t belong? The fact that the vape store has bars on its windows is a pretty good hint who the retail outlier is.

While versions of vaping and electronic cigarettes date back to the 1930s, it was a Chinese pharmacist named Hon Lik who is credited with inventing the first successfully commercial one in 2003. Ironically, it was the death of his father from lung cancer that motivated him to find an alternative to tobacco. There’s nothing like trading one addiction for another.

Similar to the lies peddled by “Big Tobacco” for years, the claims and promises that vaping or e-cigarettes are somehow safe or even safer have been debunked. Recent studies found that while the tobacco alternatives may not contain the same dangerous chemicals and carcinogens, they’re nevertheless still dangerous and toxic. Doctors report that lung damage from vaping is similar to what’s inflicted from chemical burns.

Dr. James H. Stein is professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine. This past summer, he told The New York Times, “Common sense tells you — your mom would tell you — that a superheated chemical inhaling right into your lungs isn’t going to be good.”

Yet sadly, common sense seems less and less common. But some things just don’t change. The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company ran an advertising campaign beginning in 1946 in which they claimed, “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette!”  That foolish proclamation brings to mind the late comedian George Carlin’s observation: “Somewhere out there is the world’s worst doctor – and somebody has an appointment with him tomorrow.”

Widespread public campaigns to curb tobacco use began in earnest in 1964 when the Surgeon General released a major report linking smoking with cancer. People still lit up, but no longer could anyone say they didn’t know it was a bad idea. Cognitive dissonance nevertheless continued to help perpetuate the foolishness. I remember flying on a plane where one side was smoking and the other side was non-smoking.

The opening of retail stores is driven by capitalistic projection but their continuation and proliferation are measured and determined by consumer infatuation. Tragically, the vape industry is growing because we’re normalizing and encouraging a new generation of addicts. At the corner of Garden of the Gods Road and Centennial Boulevard, there’s two separate smoke and vape businesses. One installed posts in front of the store to prevent thieves from ramming cars into the window.

Colorado Springs Police officers told me there’s a rash of burglaries involving vape shops because the products are their own form of currency. And guess who the crooks and creeps are selling their contraband to? In many instances, it’s to underage individuals in nearby neighborhoods.

People are buying what they’re selling – but that doesn’t mean we should make it attractive or convenient for them to do so. We need greater buffer zones between shops and residential neighborhoods and schools.

We’re not doing our young people any favors by allowing a shop that peddles toxic and deadly vaping chemicals to set up within a few feet of where teams of youngsters come to celebrate over ice cream. Children aren’t the only ones at risk, of course. It was the late investment guru Charlie Munger who astutely observed, “Addiction can happen to any of us through a subtle process where the bonds of degradation are too light to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”

The root of addiction can be complex but can be exacerbated by proximity. We need to be surrounded by more goodness – more virtue and less vice. Losing a public library (Rockrimmon) and adding smoke and vape shops is social suicide. We’re better than that – or are we?

Paul J. Batura is a local writer and founder of the 4:8 Media Network. He can be reached via email Paul@PaulBatura.com or on X @PaulBatura.