Vaping Hits an All Time High

Hits An All Time

Written by Emily Fiorini-Casamayouret Art by Sabrina Sylvester

So, you find yourself addicted to what looks like a silly little flash drive. How did we get here? How has a society who has never smoked a cigarette before managed to get addicted to something that was created to get you to stop smoking in the first place? If you developed a nicotine addiction in 2016, you are entitled to informational compensation. This is for you!

As someone who doesn’t have an addiction to vapes, I feel a slight superiority complex, but also a need to educate everyone on the epidemic. Vape sales started way before we thought, like in 2007. Their introduction to the market was a pivotal point in the decrease in cigarette use, thus shifting a smoker’s focus onto e-cigs. Between 2011 and 2015, the usage of vapes among middle and high schoolers has since increased by a whopping 900% Many of us have used vapes during the legendary year of 2016, whether it was in a bathroom stall or in the backseat of your friend’s car on the way to school.

If you were friends who once vaped, it was more than likely that you eventually would too. Most of us (as kids) weren’t as strong-minded as some who had the discipline to overcome peer pressure. The concept that “if you don’t vape, you’re not cool” corrupted young minds everywhere. Many have been hooked since the ripe age of 16. Although vaping is branded as healthier than smoking cigarettes, do we truly know how much healthier, or if it even is healthier than smoking cigs?

While it is slightly safer than smoking cigarettes, it does not mean it’s entirely safe either. Nicotine is extracted from tobacco, and heated along with artificial flavors and other chemicals we don’t really know about to become the “smoke” you inhale. You will be inhaling fewer chemicals than in your traditional cig, but without concrete knowledge of each chemical you’re putting into your body, we don’t know the harmful effects, short-term or long-term. As seen on TikTok, there are cases of people who have gotten lung injuries and even deaths associated with vaping. The cases are linked to people who have used black market, modified juices, and even those containing THC. However, this hasn’t stopped vape companies. They continue to abuse the system through marketing tactics that targeted people like us at an impressionable age. Blueberry lemonade, apple peach, and grapey sound like Jolly Rancher flavors, don’t they? Vape companies have used their “fun flavors” to market their products to teenagers. Back when vapes were e-cigs, the flavors were usually just menthol or tobacco. Afterward, their shift to these fruity flavors is what drew a lot of teens into the vape market. While you still had to be 21 to purchase a vape, people would go as far as to have “plugs” to get them vapes or they would get a fake ID to feed their addiction.

As stated earlier, people who have never smoked a cigarette have ended up with a vape addiction. This goes to show that influence is everything, whether you agree or not. As we all know, if anyone in your family is a smoker, you are more likely to smoke too. Addictive personalities are also a thing, and that also contributes to someone’s addiction to anything, not just vapes. This will make it harder for you to stop. It just so happened that Gen-Z went the opposite way into trying vapes before later trying cigs. It is an outlet for stress, and being a member of Gen-Z is a particularly stressful thing by itself. Put that on top of being a full-time student, working a job, raising a younger sibling, being the younger sibling, and other factors make it understandable that some of us need a little something to take the edge off.

Of course, there are people who find smoking hot. This is usually associated with cigs, but people do (somehow) find vaping attractive too. This is probably due to something called an oral fixation. According to psychology icon Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis, this means that you had an issue during your psychosexual stage that is still unresolved. This leads people with an oral fixation to have problems with drinking, eating, nail-biting, and you guessed it, smoking.

Wherever you stand on the issue of drugs or smoking in general, it’s hard to ignore the impact that vapes have had on our generation. Whether you plan on continuing to vape or quitting soon after reading this, it’s completely up to you. Life’s short, the risk is all yours.