Smoking has been a harmful practice that for nearly two centuries has led to countless deaths. But a new form has recently swept across the nation, vaping. Not only is it more addictive due to how it makes the user intake as much as three times the amount of nicotine, but it’s far more deadly. After studies and lawsuits; vapes are shown to advertise towards adolescents and profit from it. As recently as last year, Feb. 2, 2020, a lawsuit was announced--the investigation first occurring two years prior after countless allegations. The attorney general’s office says that JUUL “illegally advertised and sold nicotine products to underage youth and created an epidemic of nicotine addiction,” and is asking for the company to assist in financing the funds necessary to fight the “epidemic.”
Their sleek, black appearance, and little smell, vapes are easier to hide than the common-day cigarette, making them popular with teens in schools. Due to the deceivingly sweet flavors like Kool-Aid, sweet tarts, and many more, children often do not notice the effects they have on their bodies.
From bathrooms, to hallways, vapes are used and offered to teen after teen--when young adults keep seeing it over and over, it can be really hard to say no.
But it’s not good--vaping is bad. It can have horrible effects on the entirety of your body. Not only is it connected to lung problems: cancer, rapid cough, and even lung disease. But vaping has caused several people to be hospitalized, numbering over two thousand people. And when an immature body consumes too much nicotine, it’s far more likely they could die.
Even things like advertisements in stores are shown to appeal to youth, and even still, companies like JUUL and Alteria, have slithered their way out of prosecution--even after deaths and addiction have kept on spreading over the last five years. Over time advertisements online have slowed down, but it does not have such a huge impact due to the role of peer pressure. Big tobacco companies rely on the decisions of child smokers.
But even though it’s addictive, when you begin you can still definitely quit. You can always use resources around you to get the help that you need. Be sure to know it won’t be an easy process. You will have those symptoms of withdrawal, but giving into them will not help with anything. Thinking of your new, positive life without the need of vaping can be freeing and make you want to keep persevering with the vape free life. Avoiding any triggers that can cause you to vape including those people who cause havoc in your life. Even with the constant threat of disease and manipulation, there’s always a way to come back. With so much help and care, it’s easier than ever to come back from an incorrect choice.