Vaping on the Rise Among American Youth

 

RUBY LA MAX TRAN Staff Writers

According to U.S. News more than a third of high school seniors in America reportedly vaped at least once in 2018. Most people believe that vaping is healthier than traditional smoking, however numerous studies over the decade show that vaping can be as unhealthy as traditional cigarettes, due to the nature of e-cigarettes and chemicals such as Formaldehyde.

The vapor, that many people have taken a liking to, can have many health defects for people who vape. As stated by the American Heart Association, the nicotine used in e-cigarette vapors is highly addictive and can cause harm to the developing brains of children who do vape and in fetuses if a pregnant woman also participates in these activities. The substances in the vapors are also found to cause cancers in the lungs, as well as bronchiolitis obliterans, otherwise known as popcorn lung. Similar to traditional cigarettes, someone who vapes can also give these negative effects to others since the chemicals are exhaled by users and inhaled by people nearby.

There have also been cases where people have been poisoned by swallowing, breathing or absorbing the liquid through their eyes and skin. In the past, the use of tobacco was extremely prominent and many people used it as a way to calm down in stressful situations. However, in recent years cigarette usage has started to die down among youth and has begun to be replaced by e-cigs. Other than the direct health risks, the new rise in popularity of e cigs can lead to the renormalization of nicotine usage. Smoking is still the leading most preventable cause of death in the United States, with 480,000 lives being lost each year. With the renormalization of nicotine usage, the number of lives lost due to smoking or vaping will gradually increase.

Vaping is the most common form of tobacco usage among children and teens, so the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine can start at a young age. This may lead to health defects or possible death which stems from their need to vape. In fact, this has lead to an entire campaign against the idea that vaping is safer than traditional cigarettes. The Real Cost Campaign, which is funded by the Food and Drug Administration, has launched multiple advertisements in an attempt to spread awareness on this issue. One of these advertisements involved two different puppets, with a trumpet playing every time the orange puppet tries to say that vaping is safer than smoking. In another advertisement, vaping is called an “epidemic.” The simple existence of the campaign illustrates the significance of the problem, since this misunderstanding would only continue the cycle of absorbing harmful chemicals that damages the body.