but at least short term studies, while being inconclusive, show that vaping is just as damaging as smoking

Citation needed. Every study I’ve seen, with the exception of the ones where they were burning wicks, has shown the opposite. Vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol are far less damaging than burnt plant matter.

Most smokers I know startet smoking more when they switched to vapes.

Anecdotal, and I can counter with my own. When I vaped, the vast majority of people I knew who did were former smokers. I don’t know that I’ve ever met someone who went the other direction. I could see that happening among younger people, but switching from vaping to smoking is one of the most braindead things a person could do.

Then there is the whole issue with one time vapes and batteries in landfills

So ban single-use vapes, or come up with a core-charge recycling scheme like we do with lead-acid batteries. Lithium batteries are recyclable.