The Vaping Epidemic and What You Need to Know

Many people aren't aware of this, but vaping has been around for many years. More recently though it has become trendy amongst not only the older generation as they are trying to become healthier by giving up cigarettes. But many middle and high schoolers are vaping now as well.

In the article, "Millions of teens are vaping every day. Heres what they have to say about the growing trend," Published on December 20, 2018, in USA TODAY, writer Marina Pitofsky stated: "Today, more than 3 million middle and high school students say they regularly vape with e-cigarettes. From 2017 to 2018, the number of high schoolers who reported using e-cigarettes increased 78 percent, according to the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey."

The increase comes at a time when people are wanting to live healthier lifestyles and believe that vaping is their ticket to quit smoking cigarettes. It has been said that vaping is healthier than smoking cigarettes, but there hasn't been enough research on the real dangers of vaping yet.

Young people are vaping because they think that it is cooler than smoking cigarettes, and some are using it as a social experience. It has become so popular that kids are using it as a way to fit in with their peers. Vaping has almost become a cultural phenomenon amongst the younger generation. They feel it is cleaner than cigarettes, and they like to enjoy the many different flavors and varieties as well as having control over the amount of nicotine they are consuming. 

One concern is that vaping may lead to smoking cigarettes later on in life for many young adults who may not ever have taken up the habit to begin with. 

Another concern is that there will be a substantial increase in respiratory disease in the decades to come. The aerosol that is inhaled from vaping is filling the lungs with fluid and chemicals, causing inflammation. In reality, those flavored liquids or juices, that are filling up these vape pens and cartridges are essentially oil. Besides the oil, vitamin E acetate, there are other chemicals such as lead, nickel, tin, and of course, nicotine that are going into those vape juices. Often times the vape juice has significantly more nicotine than a regular cigarette. The bottom line is that we know vaping isn't good and that there are going to be unknown complications years from now.

According to Damon Winter, publisher for the New York Times, "A congressional investigation has found that Juul, the nation's leading e-cigarette maker, used social media and "educational" and "antismoking" campaigns to plug its product to minors. In at least one instance, the company targeted children as young as 8. In another, it told students that e-cigarettes were "totally safe."

Everywhere you turn these days there seems to be another vaping store being added to shopping centers. There are countless advertisements all over the internet and social media as well. I have two teenage children, and they have told me that kids are selling these vapor pens in school. Some parents are even soliciting their kids to sell them. They have said that vaping is a regular thing they see daily on school grounds. Education and keeping open communication with your children is key to preventing the vaping epidemic from becoming worse.

Resources

• Teen Vaping Linked to More Health Risks
• The Dangers of Vaping: What We Know
• Everything We Know- And Don't Know- About The Dangers Of Vaping

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