Vaping Has Gained Control Over The Youth

Photo by Raphael Alegeleye

Nicole Ardila/Staff Writer

Are you experiencing any shortness of breath, cough, fevers, chills, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeats or chest pain?

If you answered yes, well, you should probably get tested for COVID-19. Otherwise, you’re most likely suffering from a vape addiction. 

Back when I was in high school, vaping became a new thing. Before I knew it, everyone around me was sneaking puffs in class or asking to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes to hit their dab pens or other vapes. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried it a few times, but I just never liked it. In fact, I felt really stupid inhaling something that gives you satisfaction for like five seconds, while it slowly damages your brain and lungs. A device that’s supposed to taste like candy and give you a “buzz” feeling, only made me feel lightheaded and burned my throat. So fortunately, vaping did not win control over my body. 

I am glad that I never grew a constant crave for any of the trending vapes like JUULs or cuvies. I would’ve ended up spending all my paychecks every week on a small, toxic, colorful plastic stick that you buy at a gas station. 

Seeing my friends enjoy their “nic”, I didn’t understand why they couldn’t live without it so much, or why they liked that “buzz” feeling that made me feel sick. And if they didn’t have a vape, they’d ask if someone else brought one, or stop to buy some. 

I was also concerned about seeing my friends’ behaviors change when they don’t get to vape a few times within an hour. When I started seeing signs of irritability within people, I realized how nicotine has created an addiction for them.  

E-cigs and other flavored-vapes may have helped some longtime smokers quit tobacco, but they are now targeting a new generation. 

When I first heard of vaping, I thought it was intended for those who were trying to quit smoking cigarettes. Then I saw 14-18 year olds doing it, I figured that maybe their intentions weren’t as good as I thought. 

It’s sad to see this addiction spread like an epidemic in the youth. Vaping has become irresistible to young adults, teens and even middle schoolers. 

Smoking tobacco has finally decreased in popularity over the years. The number of U.S. adult cigarette smokers has declined to 13.7% in 2018. It’s possible that this is due to newer generations being exposed to creepy anti-tobacco ads growing up. 

Yet, adolescents have gotten their hands on a new gateway drug. 

In the past couple of years, there’s been an outbreak in hospitals diagnosed as e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury, or EVALI. As of February 2020, there have been 2,807 EVALI hospitalizations and 68 deaths in the U.S. 

Just because vaping e-cigarettes is less harmful than smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes, does not mean it isn’t damaging your body. 

Most of you vape and don’t even know what it is you’re inhaling, what you’re putting into your body. Let me go ahead and inform you in case you don’t.

Your vape pen has a battery that heats a thick liquid, turning it into an aerosol, producing other harmful chemicals. That contains nicotine, a highly addictive chemical that releases dopamine, telling your brain that it wants more after each hit you take. Nicotine also negatively affects brain development in adolescents, such as attention, memory, and learning impairments. You are also consistently ingesting the following chemicals:

  • Acrolein – a herbicide to kill weeds
  • Diacetyl – causes “popcorn lungs
  • Carcinogens – cancer-causing chemicals
  • Vitamin E acetate – a sticky oil used along with THC, able to remain in the lungs
  • Diethylene glycol – a toxic chemical used in antifreeze
  • Benzene – a volatile organic compound (VOC), found in car exhaust
  • Propylene glycol – a common food additive, also used in paint and plastic solvents
  • Heavy metals like nickel, tin, and lead

We’ve created popularity in addiction among kids and adolescents, and basically “re-normalized” smoking. 

A recent study has found that young Americans who have ever used e-cigarettes are seven times more likely to become smokers one year later, compared to those who have never vaped. Now that I come to think of it, I personally know some people who are starting to smoke cigarettes. 

E-cigarette companies are targeting the youth with their marketing strategies. 

The appealing artificial flavors are what attracts kids to keep vaping. The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act banned flavors in cigarettes to avoid youth appeal, yet the same problem is now happening in electronic ones! They also purposefully make the devices to look like candy or kid-friendly food items. 

Companies like  JUUL are even promoting on social media and offering college scholarships to those who write essays on how vaping has some potential benefits.

Many actions have been taken to help solve this problem, but none of them stop people from vaping. 

The FDA has banned some of the most enticing flavors in e-cigarettes, which may have caused a decline in vaping rates. Yet, about 4.5 million American high school and middle school students used some type of tobacco product in 2020. Since the flavors are what appeal to younger consumers the most, the ban could’ve diminished their interest. Then again, due to the lockdown in 2020, kids may not have had access to vapes, causing some decline as well. 

Former President Donald Trump had also signed a bill, raising the federal legal age of purchasing tobacco and e-cigarettes, from 18 to 21. This was intended to prevent teenagers from purchasing and distributing such products that have caused fatal incidents. 

The thing is, banning or creating restrictions against vaping will not end this addiction. 

Remember the Prohibition Act of 1919? The U.S. banned the transport and sale of alcoholic beverages, yet it proves that it just doesn’t work because people will either sell illegally like any other drug, or through the black market. People will always find a way to get what they want. 

Smoking overall can affect your lungs, but vaping nicotine or THC is not the best alternative.

The illicit THC oil vape pens you’re buying from a guy who sells across the street, are worse than smoking recreational marijuana. THC is the psychoactive chemical that makes you high, but the rest of the vape oil includes harmful chemicals like vitamin E acetate, which is toxic to inhale. 

For health reasons, go to a licensed dispensary or legal recreational shop. Marijuana contains cannabinoids (CBD), meaning it has more beneficial properties compared to vaping THC oil. 

Just because vaping doesn’t involve inhaling smoke, does not mean it is safer. Please do research before ingesting anything. The best thing to do is to refrain from vaping at all!

Yes quitting is tough, but the only way to do it is by starting to try.

Vaping can control your life. It makes you spend money, affects your health, your behavior, your feelings and thoughts, and even relationships. So tell me, is it really worth it to keep vaping? Because being a quitter has never seemed like a good thing until now.  

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

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