The Reality of Vaping

Vaping! The next big trend or a new way to stand out may not be all it sounds to be. Smoking itself has been around since 5000 BC, commonly used for stress relief, pleasure or simply to look cool, the deadly sticks were everywhere! Inside and outside, with its peak in 1963 for one adult 4,345 cigarettes were consumed in the year alone according to The Napacademics Press. The 1960s was also the decade when they figured out the damages that have affected many people, which resulted in quickly trying to replace it and factor in something new to their daily addiction. This was the main reason that e-cigarettes or vape were invented in 2003 by a Chinese pharmacist. What seemed like a good solution was actually a deadly grip on the upcoming generation.

Some would argue that vaping has many benefits. For example, a study conducted in July of 2019 showed that adults who picked up vaping had a 67 percent chance of quitting according to Brittanica. Vaping is popularly known among teenagers; one of the main reasons is because of anxiety and stress which can be relieved when inhaling the nicotine it has provided. Thirdly, vaping makes it easier to ingest tobacco and the United Kingdom has found that it is 95 percent less harmful than cigarettes.

Nicotine patches or nicotine gum are healthier and more cautionary to end your addiction than vaping. Vaping can cause serious health risks affecting the heart and lungs with the number of toxic chemicals it uses to heat up the vaporizer and can lead to conditions such as popcorn lung, asthma, heart disease, lung cancer, and other pulmonary conditions. As for the generational teens’ addiction to vaping, studies by Truth Initiative show that vaping temporarily alleviates stress and anxiety, but can actually lead to more anxiety and higher diagnoses of depression. One in two young people frequently vapes 20 or more days out of the month to control those attacks. Along with this, since vaping is so new scientists don’t even know the long-term effects as compared to smoking “vaping is still relatively new, so we don’t have data on the long-term risks,” Dr. Melamed says. “It took decades before we fully understood the effects of cigarettes, because of cancer and lung-related illnesses”. Research shows that  JUUL and other companies have linked stroke, pulmonary issues, nicotine poisoning, and even seizures as issues that can affect teens in the future. Additionally, others may be affected by secondary smoke. Smoking tobacco can slow down brain development and memories. Smiah Herman, a teenager for being one of the victims, says “I couldn’t drink water. I couldn’t move. Like, I literally just wanted to crawl out of my skin.”