As I strolled down the streets and alleys, I saw a group of people blowing circular clouds from their mouths. Apparently, those clouds are the smoke from vaping. I have to admit; vaping tricks such as the tornado, dragon, and ghost inhale are very aesthetic and appealing to the eyes. Although I am aware I am breathing in second-hand vaping fumes, I just want to take a moment to appreciate how fast technology progresses for humans to try all sorts of magical tricks from flying to blowing smokes from their mouths like little dragons. I can understand how vaping became so popular amongst the young generations.
Ever since Juul emerged in 2015, electronic cigarettes has been a trend among youths and young adults. Although Juul claims that its mission is “to improve the lives of the world’s 1 billion adult smokers,” there is no scientific evidence that the e-cigarettes would be any healthier than other tobacco products. The public widely accepted that the e-cigarettes would produce less toxins than normal cigarettes. However, this does not mean that the e-cigarette would be any healthier than a normal cigarette. I would like to highlight that vaping products contain chemicals such as nicotine, heavy metals, and glycerin. These chemicals pose health risks in bystanders, especially among the youths, elderly, and those who are asthmatic. Juul can be harmful to the lungs and heart just like any other tobacco products. Because Juul is so young, there are not much data confirming the long-term effects of vaping.
A factor that makes the vaping devices so appealing is it can take on many forms. E-cigarettes can take on the form of fashionable vape pens, vape mods, and vape mods. There are also vaping flavors from which consumers choose, such as strawberry, watermelon, and spearmint. These flavors lead to concerns over youth vaping.
Many people turn to vaping because of the negative connotations behind cigarettes and because they want to quit the cigarettes. They find that despite their switch, their addiction to the substance remains. The nicotine produced by the e-cigarettes activates the brain’s reward system to produce a lot of dopamine, which are chemical substances that make a person feel very pleasurable. The brain is capable of producing its own dopamine when we interact with friends and families. The reliance of another product such as the e-cigarette would decrease the amount of dopamine production one would usually get when hanging out with close people. This reinforces the addiction to e-cigarette because the person would not be able to find an effective alternative supplier of dopamine other than the e-cigarette. In addition, the brain might get used to the amount of nicotine going through your body, making it very hard for you to quit vaping in total. An attempt to quit vaping could lead to withdrawal symptoms, which are symptoms that produce the opposite of the euphoric feelings induced by the drug.
Although vaping may be a trend among groups of peers, I would like to highlight that the long-term exposure to vaping fume is unclear and most likely not going to be beneficial to any person.
by Naive Health Lady Lu February 21, 2020
Naive Healthy Lady Lu 