"Blowing Smoke"
Recently, it hasn’t been uncommon to see teens blowing smoke while you're on a trip in town. A new trend has spread among teens called vaping where an e-cig vaporizes a nicotine laced liquid. They have many other names such as “personal vaporizers” and “electronic nicotine delivery systems.” They have been very popular in clubs, bars, and even at someone's job. People find it more convenient to just ‘vape’ because they can do it inside and don’t have to go outside or in a designated area to smoke.
Companies have found ways to target teens again after so many campaigns have lowered the amount of teens smoking. One woman that “thanks to decades of sensible public health policies-including laws banning cigarette advertising and smoking in public places- as well as brutally graphic anti smoking marketing campaigns, my 15- and 21-year-old kids have grown up in a culture in which puffing on cigarettes is stigmatized.” But with the popularity of vaping growing, teens don’t realize that it’s just another form of smoking.
Research from the Centers of Disease Control states “that 1.8 million middle- and high-school students said they had tried e-cigarettes in 2012- double the number from the year before.” Teens may have quit smoking, but they are for sure on to the next big trend they can find that makes them ‘cool.’
Most experts may agree that smoking is much worse than vaping, but that still doesn’t mean it’s okay to do. With researchers not having much information on exactly what is even in an e-cigarette, it is unclear whether they are even safe or not.
However, after a 2016 analysis, the F.D.A found that there are carcinogens and toxic chemicals in these e-cigarettes. What most people are most concerned about is that e-cigs are a gateway to eventually smoking real cigarettes one day. But if they are concerned, why don’t they change something? “Only 23 states currently place any restriction on who can buy e-cigarettes- a shameful lack of regulation as compared with the laws governing tobacco products. Federal laws prohibits the sale of tobacco to people under the age of 18, while four states have raised that to 19; New York City is considering increasing it to 21.” So why is it any different for e-cigs?
Not only do the kids find it ‘cool’ because other kids are doing it but because celebrities do it too! Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Moss, and Robert Pattinson have been seen using these e-cigs. Teen girls still in love with Leonardo from Titanic could automatically think ‘Leo is doing that so it must be cool!’ or a girl still obsessed over the glowing vampire from the Twilight series could think ‘OMG he looks so hot doing that! Wonder if more people would notice me?’ It’s also not just celebrities but sports sponsors too. At parties free samples are handed out of the many different flavors and with the many different flavors it’s pushed on kids like candy.
So many people have worked towards pushing teens to quit smoking, and now a new trend has come around which is basically still smoking. Campaigns may have lowered smoking rates, but now they have to worry about vaping.
Kids should be worrying about their PBJ’s and not Smucker's Vape Jelly.
