You have probably known someone who vapes.  They may say that it is a healthier alternative to smoking and tell you that it makes you look cool, but what they fail to tell you is that vaping is highly addictive because of the nicotine in the devices and can cause lifelong damage. 

Vaping in schools seems to be on the rise and researchers are unaware of the long term damage that vaping could do to you, which teens and frequent vapers need to be cautious about.

Vaping began to be popular in teens and young adults following the vaping boom in 2014. According to the article “When Did Vaping Become so Popular?” posted by Breazy, the number of people who vaped in 2011 was 7 million and jumped to 25 million in 2014. 

Around 50% of all students have either tried vaping or have an addiction to vaping according to a survey done by the Scribe. Many of these students have either said that they only vape when their friend has a vaping device; or the complete opposite, that they cannot go without vaping for an hour.  

According to the survey done by the Scribe, high school students began to vape because they are exposed to it by their friends or siblings, or they are drawn to the appeal of vaping. With all the different flavors and devices, these products seem to be advertised towards teen and young adults. 

According to the article, “Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults,” posted by the CDC, “E-cigarettes are also advertised using the same themes and tactics that have been shown to increase youth initiation of other tobacco products, including cigarettes,” proving the point that these newer vaping devices are advertised towards teens, although the companies may say otherwise. 

High schoolers and middle schoolers view teens and others vaping in some of their favorite shows. For example, the popular show “Euphoria” displays the cast of teens vaping and doing different drugs and drinking alcohol. 

 In the article, “Is JUULing, The Cool Kid Accessory Of Choice, Going To Make It To Television?,” posted by Refinery29, the showrunner of “The Magicians,” Sara Gamble, said, “I noticed that JUULing had become a bit of a trend, so we just put it in the script.” 

Teens that watch shows like this can be influenced to make questionable choices regarding drug use and potential addiction if one of their favorite characters is shown to also make some of these choices.

*An anonymous junior said that he started vaping his sophomore year and continued to do it because it was beginning to be shown in the shows that he watched and wanted to relate to the characters. He believes that if these teens in these shows are doing it “why can’t [he].”

Teens and young adults see people vaping all over social media. Posted by Truth Initiative, ¨4 marketing tactics e-cigarette companies use to target youth,” said that the JUUL company actively posts on social media associating people who JUUL to be cool, having fun, being relaxed, having freedom and sex appeal. 

*An anonymous senior student has said that she started vaping because of the appeal of it. They thought that it would make them feel more cool and popular, but now they are just stuck with the addiction.  

  From Juul pods to disposable vapes, there is a wide variety of flavors and sizes of vaping devices that teens can be drawn to. *An anonymous junior student has said that ads for JUULs could be found all over their social media accounts, either a post on Instagram or an ad in a Youtube video.   

According to the article posted by the CDC, “Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults,” teens did not know that these e-cigarette products contain nicotine, but according to the survey done by the Scribe, students have said that they are well aware that the products that they have seen or used contain nicotine. 

Nicotine is a very addictive substance and is present in almost every vaping device.  According to the article, “Vaping: What You Need to Know,” posted by Kids Health, nicotine can slow brain development in teens and can affect memory, concentration, learning, self-control, and mood.  

Vaping is a fairly new way to intake nicotine and many researchers still do not know the long term effects it could have. According to the article “Immediate health concerns about vaping are real but long-term effects are not yet fully understood,” posted by UCLA Health, Dr. Kathryn Melamed said,“Vaping is still relatively new, so we don’t have data on the long-term risks, it took decades before we fully understood the effects of cigarettes.” 

It will take a while for anyone to know the long term effects and health hazards that vaping can cause. It took years to find out how cigarettes can affect your health in the long run and researchers are still finding out how vaping affects your health.  

*An anonymous senior student has said that he has tried to quit on many occasions but have never been fully successful because of the withdrawals and their boredom. Another student who frequently vapes has said that they have never tried to quit because they simply do not care and it is something to do with friends. 

Addiction is very hard to overcome, especially when these are young students being affected. Some students may not even realize how addicted they are until they take a look into their bank accounts. *An anonymous sophomore student has said that the only thing they regret about vaping is the amount of money they spend each week.  

 A few teens who vape have said that the advice that they would give to teens and younger kids is to never succumb to the peer pressure of vaping because once you start it seems impossible to stop. 

*The students interviewed wished to remain anonymous in case of penalization and judgment from others.