NON-VAPER Diary OF A

Words: Emily Malia

The smell of cigarettes became familiar to me from an early age with both of my parents - now ex-smokers - and all their friends, lighting up day in day out.

The routine of my mum perched by the backdoor on a dining table chair, Marlboro Light in hand, halfheartedly blowing smoke outside, remains firmly in my mind as a daily practice.

Alternatively, it would be my Dad driving with one hand placed firmly on the steering wheel and the other causally hanging out the window as the ash blows into the wind.

These scenes became so normalised to me that it wasn’t until I grew older that I began to realise just how damaging cigarettes were for your health.

I saw firsthand the effects that smoking had on my loved ones and so, after years of passively smoking, I made a promise to myself to never touch tobacco.

So, when vaping came into the picture, it’s fair to say I was apprehensive about its benefits and skyrocketing popularity, it almost seemed to me…to be too good to be true.

As the years went by, it felt as though everywhere I turned there were new vape shops popping up across my city, friends beginning to vape and the selection behind the counter ever-growing.

Despite this, it seemed along with their rise in recognition came heaps of negativity, with news outlets flooding my screen with vaping horror stories and what I now know as misinformation.

At the time of joining Vapouround my views on vaping were a mixed bag having heard about the alleged harmful consequences of the device it left me feeling confused.

However, through the extensive training I have received, and thorough research conducted for the magazine, I have gained a wealth of knowledge surrounding vaping laws, regulations and the community itself.