re: Why is the government suddenly going so hard after vaping?

This is spot on.
It is happening in the cigar business, too, but not outright bans. In the cigar business, the FDA is enforcing or writing "deeming rules" and in some cases making companies go back through the approval process, which costs thousands of dollars, for "new" blends.

They are trying to, or have made this retroactive for 7 years. So anything newer than 7 years, that has not gone through the approval process may have to submit.

For "boutique" or mom-and-pop brands, this will effectively make their costs to bring new blends to market or go through the process for extant blends so prohibitive it will put everyone out of business before long except for General Cigars and Altadis.

Fortunately, there are many in Congress willing to sponsor legislation to exempt cigars from the rules which are really written for cigarettes.