Everyone knows what vaping is to a degree. It is practically everywhere you look.

Especially in our generation we have seen an increase in the use of vapes, specifically in highschoolers. As of October 2022 the United States Food and Drug Administration in their “Results from the Annual National Youth Tobacco Survey” reported that 14.1% of highschool students or 2.14 million students had admitted to using a vape.¹

Now, at first that sounds ridiculous, I mean how can so many kids be vaping? Well it's surprisingly simple, it's the nicotine.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s article on “Vaping Devices (Electronic Cigarettes)” vapes are made of four parts: a cartridge that holds a liquid solution containing nicotine (some of the time) along with flavorings, an atomizer (turns liquid into gas), a battery, and lastly a mouthpiece.² It seems like such a simple device and if nicotine really is the cause for all of this what exactly is it.

From an article by the Alcohol and Drug Foundation titled ,“Nicotine”, described nicotine as a stimulant drug that increases the messages that your brain sends to your body.³ What this mean is the chemical dopamine in your brain increases your happiness, so every time you take a hit off the little watermelon stick you’re becoming addicted.

This is why vaping is currently seen as bad, it is considered to be highly addictive which is why it has become so much of a problem. You basically become dependent on a small device.

How or why would someone come up with a device that makes people grow dependent on it? Now, you would probably think it was money but it was surprisingly not.

Stated by Brittanica.com’s article titled ,“E-cigarette”, written by Bechara Choucair the e-cigarette also known as the electronic cigarettes was created by chinese pharmacist Hon Lik in 2003 intended to be an alternative to smoking.⁴ It is quite ironic to think that this device was meant to be a way to lean off of smoking and it ended up being just as addictive.

But how exactly do people get access to this very addictive drug? How do people even get involved knowing the risk of addiction?

According to an article from Rally Health titled, “Why Do So Many Teens Vape?”, written by Jennifer Thomas it is from misinformation, seeing others around them use it, and the flavors.⁵ Many people begin to vape because they think it is better than smoking but that is far from true.

While it is true some vapes do not contain nicotine many of them do and the lure of flavors only entices that. Environment also plays a role, the people you associate yourself with often rub on you and for many that was how they were introduced to electronic cigarettes.

The cool sounding flavors ads use to entice the reader into buying is also another factor, it looks and sounds appealing making most people, at first glance, think about it. Though there are federal regulations to stop children from being able to access these addictive vapes people will always find a way.

If the idea of addiction did not show the grave consequences of vaping the National Institute on Drug Abuse even wrote in there own article on vapes was that those who started using it when they were younger were more likely to abuse other tobacco related products such as cigarettes.¹ Vaping is an addiction and is very prevalent in our current generation, if we do not attempt to slow the rate at which we abuse stimulants it will trickle down to the next.

It is important to think about what you put in your body and how your choices may affect you or the others around you. End the cycle of vaping and instead of finding new methods try something more constructive instead of destructive.

Cited Sources:

1- “Results from the Annual National Youth Tobacco Survey” written by the United States Food and Drug Administration
https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/youth-and-tobacco/results-annual-national-youth-tobacco-survey

2- “Vaping Devices ( Electronic Cigarettes)” written by National Institute on Drug Abuse
https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/vaping-devices-electronic-cigarettes

3- “Nicotine” written by Alcohol and Drug Foundation
https://adf.org.au/drug-facts/nicotine/

4- “ E-Cigarette” written by Bechara Choucair from Britannica.com
E-cigarette

5- “Why Do So Many Teens Vape?” written by Jennifer Thomas from Rally Health
https://www.rallyhealth.com/quit-smoking/why-do-so-many-teens-vape