Of any stereotype, the one that states all teenagers partake in harmful habits like drinking and drugs is the most true. A new form of smoking has swept across the nation - vaping. Vaporizers, sometimes colloquially called “e-cigs” or electronic-cigarettes, heat a material to a point in which vapor comes out, instead of smoke. This can be used on many materials from flavored liquid to nicotine to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
An epidemic is known as something that is “tending to affect a disproportionately large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time” (Merriam-Webster). Though it started to gain traction in the United States in 2010, vaping really blew up in 2012, when the first show based around vaping took place in Illinois (Historical Timeline of Electronic Cigarettes). Reportedly, 13% more teens use e-cigarettes over traditional cigarettes, totalling nearly half of all teenagers (Shaffer, 1). The health concerns following vaping is still being researched into, however. The American Heart Association (AHA) released a 20-page paper that “suggested that e-cigs are less hazardous than tobacco cigarettes, and vaping can actually help smokers quit” ("Vaping VS Smoking – Choosing the Lesser of the Two Evils?"). Despite these facts, the public still views vaping as nearly as evil a product as tobacco cigarettes, and are being outlawed in public areas city by city ("Vaping VS Smoking – Choosing the Lesser of the Two Evils?"). This fact may remain true until more studies are conducted on vaping and positive results are exposed.
Vaping is so common at this point amongst teenagers, that you probably know someone who does vape. Maybe your friend does without saying anything, maybe that well respected student in the top ten percent of her class vapes. James, a 17 year old student enlisting in the United States Army, is an electronic cigarette enthusiast. Though it is against the law for him to own a vape device, because it is considered a smoking peripheral, he proceeds without much resistance. He looks older than 18, the legal age to own a device and to buy e-liquid, which may or may not contain nicotine, so he isn’t ID’d at the smoke shop, where he buys his e-liquid or maybe even another vape pen.
Trisha also vapes, but a different substance. She chooses to use her electronic cigarette to combust a wax concentrate of cannabis. She chooses this method, because it delivers a big hit in a small package, and nobody's the wiser. When burned, the wax concentrate of cannabis doesn’t smell as bad as regular smoking it, but it still delivers a smoke filled with THC, the main ingredient in cannabis that produces the high. She is a casual smoker, doing so only a few times a week.
But how does this affect those around them? Well, James doesn’t obsess over vaping, but keeps most of it to himself, besides when he’s around like-minded friends. In fact, it’s a rather private part of his activities, so the only one affected is himself… but how does it dominate his mind? The juice for the electronic cigarette that he buys has nicotine in it, so he obtains a dependency on nicotine. Soon, he starts to make vaping a regular activity that he has to sneak out of his daily life to do. It is illegal to have a vaporizer on school grounds, because it is considered smoking paraphernalia, so he has to sneak away into a restroom, where he cannot be spotted vaping his nicotine. This addiction may lead into smoking cigarettes, because smoking cigarettes have a reliable amount of nicotine, and it may provide the burn that just isn’t given when using a vaporizer.
Trisha’s habits are very different, because of the substance she smokes. Instead of an addictive substance, she uses the vaporizer to heat up THC concentrate wax. She is twenty-one years old, in a state in which the legal age to possess cannabis and cannabis concentrates is twenty-one, and she is responsible with her drug use. She believes that using the vaporizer to combust wax is safer for her lungs than combusting the flower of the plant. In this case, there are no negative effects of her habits.
Solutions
Unfortunately, there isn’t just much in the way for solutions, as far as the epidemic of vaping goes. Even though more and more teenagers turn to it, the negative side effects are unknown, besides the poor stigma it carries with it. There aren’t any healthier alternatives to vaping, as far as all of them are known.
One solution might be making vaping illegal, however that will not stop a dedicated few people, who are using it as an alternative to smoking already illegal substances. The epidemic, by definition, might stop, but it will not halt every use of an electronic cigarette.
Another solution might be to study it, medically. Vaping is relatively new, and because of that, we do not have as much information about breathing in the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette on a constant basis like recreational vapers do. If health risks arise, perhaps both legislation and the negative attitude towards vaping will discourage users.
Maybe a solution isn’t necessary - maybe vaping isn’t as bad as some of the outside world is suggesting. However, medical research is recommended.
Absurdity
The absolute absurdity of the vaping epidemic is simply the lengths of which people will go to vape and to defend vaping - without much scientific background knowledge. When cigarettes were first packaged and sold, Americans thought that they were healthy, but it took about forty years for humans to realize that cigarettes are addictive and unhealthy. How long will it take for humans to conduct experiments that would determine how healthy or unhealthy vaping is?
Equally absurd as those who righteously defend vaping is those who wholeheartedly advocate against smoking, or compare it in likeness to smoking, or claim that it is worse. Some, particularly those who are involved in the tobacco industry, insist that vaping is simply just as bad for the human body or even worse than cigarettes. Some who choose to remain ignorant on the subject look upon vaping with disdain, wondering why vapers would do such a thing to their lungs, if they are actually causing any long-term effect.
The amount of difficulty that vaping had getting off the ground in the early years of the second decade in 2000 was abnormal. First, it had to gain popularity, and then it had to withstand legislation for and against it, combined with all of the public opinions. Since its boom, the vaping community and vaping products have grown exponentially, selling many different juice in many different flavors, such as pineapple to ice cream. The flavors and thickness of clouds will only explode into more possibilities.
In today’s terms, absurd nearly means unbelievable, and that would ring true about the complete lifestyle changes of some dedicated few. Not only did they just purchase a pen and some juice, but they also advocate for it, by talking to friends and family about it, and they change their clothes, conversations, music choice, and online personality to match the vaping lifestyle.
However… is it really that important that one must look at the consequences of the lifestyle that they chose? Should they honestly care about how the outside world perceives their habits? Camus stated that, really, the universe is indifferent to humans, and that everything ends at some point. He claims that there exists no reason for humans to be alive, except just to be alive. So why shouldn’t teenagers enjoy themselves? If they really do enjoy vaping, the opinions of the outside world wouldn’t be of concern to them, as Camus argues.
Conclusion
Although, debatably, this generation is more interested in facts and science than any past generation, a large portion of vapers are teenagers that latch onto the device without any real idea as to the effects on their body. This could be a dangerous indicator as to the habits of the generation if more questionable habits arise in the future. Furthermore, the current generation should invest, both financially and politically, in conducting more experiments for the sake of knowledge and bettering oneself and society. Knowledge is power.
Works Cited
ELiquid.com. "Vaping: A History." ELiquid.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.
"Historical Timeline of Electronic Cigarettes." CASAA. N.p., 12 Dec. 2016. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.
"Vaping VS Smoking – Choosing the Lesser of the Two Evils?" Quit Smoking Community: Kicking the Habit Together. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.
Raloff, Janet. "Teen Vaping Soars past Cigarette Use." Science News for Students. N.p., 25 Apr. 2017. Web. 03 May 2017.
"Vaping VS Smoking – Choosing the Lesser of the Two Evils?" Quit Smoking Community: Kicking the Habit Together. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.
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