When I was in my junior year of high school, I started noticing that my peers were starting to vape — inhaling nicotine vapor instead of smoke. Specifically, my classmates started to buy and use nicotine products called JUULs. I distinctly remember this dingy little gas station by my high school where everyone who vaped would go to buy JUUL cartridges during the weekends, usually before heading to a party. For those who don’t know, JUULs are an e-cigarette that have become extremely popular amongst teens because of the fruity flavors of their nicotine cartridges and because a lot of young people believe that vaping is safer than actual cigarettes, the latter of which is not true in the slightest. JUULs currently make up 72% of the e-cigarette market. As high school continued, JUULs got more and more popular, especially when the majority of my classmates turned 18 and were able to buy them legally.
Since I graduated from high school, vaping has only gotten more popular amongst teenagers, much more than actual cigarettes. A study done in 2020 found that 19.6% of high school students use e-cigarettes, while only 4.6% of high school students smoke actual cigarettes. The discrepancy between the amount of teenagers who use e-cigarettes and actual cigarettes is very large, and I attribute this to what I perceive as the normalization of vaping amongst teenagers and young adults. When I think back to the summer before college, I reflect upon how someone always had a JUUL at a party and how people would all take turns hitting it. As gross as this is, no one batted an eye. I am positive that we all knew it wasn’t good for us, but as I previously stated, we naively thought it was better than cigarettes.
While binge drinking is usually thought of as the most dangerous decision that young people can make, vaping is also incredibly detrimental to one’s health. In particular, nicotine use poses risks regarding brain development. Teenage brains are still developing and heavy nicotine use can negatively affect areas of the brain that regulate attention, learning and impulse control. Reading this research, I thought about my friends and peers in high school, who I suspected were addicted to nicotine, and I hope that these negative consequences do not affect them.
I am not trying to shame those who are still using nicotine products. I am aware that it is extremely addictive and incredibly hard to give up, especially if started at a young age. Like any addiction, I think many of my peers are in denial of being addicted to nicotine and maybe view it as less serious than other addictions. But clearly, nicotine can pose several detrimental consequences to the body, especially the brain, and it is important to reiterate that it is extremely dangerous to vape, and it is anything but normal.
A Gopher
Aug 5, 2021 at 12:02 pm
It was more of rhetorical response. But if you want to take it further I have published 4 articles about COPD and lung cancer and it’s much deeper than what you have stated. Largely, the damage from smoking is from the immune system attacking the smoke particles. We know this because RTP801 knockout mouse can not mount an immune response to cigarette smoke and never gets COPD or lung cancer (no, don’t imagine them with little smoking jackets and tiny Marlboro’s, it’s not like that). Also, centenarians raised in smoky environments are often shown smoking to no apparent harm. This is because from the age of 0-6 months your body is cataloging everything it should tolerate. After that age the body learns to attack what it sees. Thus, those raised in very dirty, smoky environments can smoke with very little risk. An additional study witnessed a boatful of Japanese, notoriously heavy smokers, head to the arctic circle where there is virtually no dust or fine particles compared to Tokyo. Every single person on that boat, regardless of smoking status, gained lung function and started passing lung functioning test at a much higher level than their Tokyo-dwelling readings. So, not only is smoking not harmful in certain circumstances it really shouldn’t be vilified at all since we are all going to die and folks should be able to enjoy the few luxuries we have before we “kick the bucket!”
David P Forsyth
Aug 4, 2021 at 8:51 pm
Because there are a billion smokers in the world whose lives could be extended by lifesaving technology that helps people transition from smoking to a healthier lifestyle. There are currently 35 million smokers and close to 10 million adult vapers in the USA and 1,300 of the smokers die prematurely every day. Vaping nicotine has not been linked to any deaths. Most people who use e-cigs to quit smoking also quit vaping within a year or two. But those of us who enjoy nicotine (which does not cause cancer, heart or lung disease unless combined with smoke/tar) feel compelled to defend our civil liberties and debunk clearly false and misleading attacks on the products that rescued us from decades of deadly smoking.
A Gopher
Aug 2, 2021 at 6:07 pm
Why are you bringing so many facts to a feelings-based rag, bruh?
David P Forsyth
Jul 29, 2021 at 3:57 pm
Many factual errors and misconceptions in this article.
First, E-cigarettes are much safer than smoking. UK government & Royal College of Physicians say vaping is 20 times less harmful. CDC did not link nicotine vaping to EVALI which was caused by adulterated THC vaping products. Smoking kills 1,300 Americans per day. Vaping nicotine is not linked to any cancer or deaths.
The claim that nicotine harms developing brains is based studies of rats (forced to breath nicotine constantly for 57 days). If the effect were true we would have millions of examples from the past century of smokers, including Albert Einstein and myself who both started smoking at age 12.
The fact that some young people substituted vaping for smoking is much better than having another generation of smokers. Vaping is less persistent (addictive) as shown by the 29% decrease in teen vaping between 2019 and March 2020, and the additional 30% decrease since then. Only 4% of teens are daily vapers and two thirds of them are former smokers or dual use. Studies show that teen smokers and vapers have shared risk factors and that vaping is a direct substitute for smoking. The vast majority of teen vaping has always been experimental. Some kids will always want to taste the “forbidden fruit.” The question you should ask is which adult vice is more dangerous? Smoking? Drinking? Drugs? Or Vaping? Science says vaping should be the least of your worries.
As for Juul, they stopped selling flavored e-liquid more than a year ago. No flavored pod system e-cigs are currently for sale in the USA (only tobacco and menthol/mint) because Trump banned them. Only open tank e-liquid has flavors now and they are not popular among teens. There is a loophole exception of disposable vapes – which is problematic and prone to illegal use by teens. But any teen smoking or vaping is illegal and should be punished.
Vaping was invented to help adults quit smoking. Dozens of studies now prove that vaping is at least twice as effective as other smoking cessation NRTs. Millions of us have switched from smoking to vaping and extended our life expectancy. Vaping may not be harmless but it is certainly less harmful than smoking.
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