There's a ridiculous amount of tech in a disposable vape

Ban vs regulate (and what exactly to target)

• Many argue for banning disposable vapes specifically, framing them primarily as an e‑waste problem rather than a drug issue.
• Others push for bans on all vapes or even all nicotine, but several commenters warn this would reproduce alcohol/drug prohibition problems: black markets, crime, and little impact on demand.
• Some say bans on public smoking/vaping and high taxes have reduced use and second‑hand exposure; others counter that high “sin taxes” just push people to illicit supply.
• There is disagreement whether nicotine addiction is “mild” versus comparable in difficulty to heroin to quit.

Global policy experiments and unintended consequences

• Australia’s broad vape ban (prescription-only) is described as driving disposable use underground, with thriving black markets, firebombings, and murders.
• New Zealand and the UK are cited as banning fully disposable or non‑rechargeable vapes, but enforcement and loopholes (e.g. “refillable” devices treated as disposable) blunt impact.
• In the US, the FDA’s flavored cartridge ban (which exempted disposables) is blamed for pushing demand into flavored disposables and greatly increasing battery waste.
• Some Asian countries formally ban vapes, but commenters report weak, selectively enforced rules.

E‑waste, deposits, and producer responsibility

• Strong consensus that disposable vapes are an egregious waste: lithium cells, MCUs, plastics, and sometimes displays discarded after a few days.
• Many advocate deposit schemes (far higher than bottle deposits) or mandatory retailer take‑back to internalize disposal costs and reduce litter and fires in waste systems.
• More radical proposals: require manufacturers/importers to accept all products back at end‑of‑life; tag products so garbage systems can bill producers for improper disposal.
• Others argue centralized waste management and landfill/incineration are more realistic than per‑manufacturer schemes, and note recycling of small electronics is often unprofitable, toxic, or offshored under grim conditions.

Recycling skepticism and plastic analogies

• Several commenters call much “recycling” a scam, especially for plastics; argue that most plastic and small e‑waste is landfilled, burned, or exported.
• Debate over how big the plastic problem really is: some downplay total mass; others emphasize microplastics, ocean pollution, and long‑term ecological risk.
• The paper‑straw transition is used as an analogy: a well‑intended but poor UX measure that may increase other harms (PFAS coatings, more waste) and provoke backlash.
• Thread notes that deposit systems for bottles do noticeably reduce litter and could analogously work for vapes.

Why disposables exist and remain cheap

• Disposables thrive on convenience, low upfront cost, and appeal to kids (easy to use, easy to discard before getting home).
• Commenters describe regulatory arbitrage: disposables slipping through flavor bans and other rules; some suggest looser oversight lets manufacturers add more addictive formulations.
• From a hardware angle, ultra‑cheap 32‑bit MCUs (pennies in volume) and commodity Li‑ion cells make it cheaper to throw away “excess” compute than engineer minimal analog designs.
• Some think further cost cutting (custom ASICs, flex PCBs) could make them even cheaper and more disposable.

Health, youth use, and risk comparison

• One camp sees vaping as clearly safer than smoking and credits it with reducing cigarette use; they advocate banning disposables but keeping refillable vapes as harm reduction.
• Others highlight unknown long‑term effects of inhaled solvents and flavorants, presence of carcinogenic nitrosamines from nicotine metabolism, and misuse (THC/other drugs in vapes).
• Concern is especially strong about youth: disposables viewed as intentionally designed for teenagers and middle schoolers, combining candy flavors, small size, and disposability.

Reuse, hacking, and “trash as treasure”

• A subthread revels in the sheer tech: MCUs more capable than early home computers in a throwaway device.
• Hackers report running web servers, games, or custom firmware on vape MCUs and reusing cells for DIY power banks or battery packs.
• Some envision organized efforts to harvest and repurpose vape batteries, but scaling such projects is acknowledged as labor‑intensive and economically marginal relative to the waste stream.