Every year there is always a new problem that happens in the United States, whether that is gun control, drunk driving, or school shootings. However, there has been a new issue that has not been talked about and has not been stressed enough to the younger generation. This new issue has to involve the act of vaping, especially teen vaping. There have been many opinions involving, whether it is the negative or the positive of vaping.
Over the years there has been an increase of teenagers who are under the impression that there are no risks to vaping. Teens who vape with or without nicotine can still be harmed by the toxic chemicals in the juices that are sold for e-cigarettes. The young generation is not educated about the dangers of what vaping can do to the young body. The result of this, more and more teenagers that are interested in vaping. Over the years there has not been a major concern with the action of vaping from e-cigarettes.
However, there have been many studies published about vaping and even some news companies have briefly talked about it. It is not surprising to find out almost everyone in high school has vaped at least once, but high schoolers are not the only people that are vaping. According to Editorial Board, “Nearly a quarter of high school seniors say they vape daily, and more than 1 in 10 eighth-graders say they’ve vaped in the past year, according to the 2017 Monitoring the Future survey conducted by the University of Michigan” (Board).
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Not only is the teen vaping epidemic reaching high schoolers, but it is also even reaching pre-teens in middle school. This information is something that every parent or guardian should know about and should talk to their kids about because putting any kind of substance in the body that is not supposed to be present, can harm you in one way or another. Not only are teenagers vaping, but most of them have never touched a cigarette. Most teenagers who vape do so to make themselves look cool, to feel numb, or to do it for no apparent reason. Despite the excuses teens have for vaping, they have a greater risk at smoking cigarettes.
According to Editorial Board, “A year after non-smoking high school seniors began vaping, they were four times as likely to have smoked a cigarette than someone who wasn’t vaping” (Board). Teenagers who vape for fun probably do not know that they are at risk for something much worse than vaping e-liquids. Not only can vaping lead to bad outcomes in the future, but the flavorings that are provided for vape can harm your body in more than one way. Lisa Rapaport states, “Exposing cells to mixtures containing a variety of flavors appeared to cause a worse reaction than using a single flavor, the study found” (Rapaport).
The different types of flavors that are sold for e-cigarettes may seem like the safest way to vape, but it is just as big of a risk as vaping in general. There are many teens who vape with flavorings and believe that they are not at risk for anything. However, according to the information that was stated, that is not the case. Vaping doesn’t only harm cells, but it can lead to developing diseases. According to Azure Thompson, “Inhalation of chemicals found in most flavored e-cigarettes that were examined in one study is associated with respiratory disease” (“Are Nicotine-Free E-Cigarettes Harmful?”).
Type up analysis here Many people believe that nicotine-free vape is harmless and that they are inhaling harmless water vapor. However, they are wrong because according to Lisa Rapaport, “Even when e-liquids don’t contain nicotine, the lungs are still exposed to flavoring chemicals when the e-liquids are heated and the vapors are inhaled” (Rapaport). This just proves that vaping, in general, can cause people serious harm, especially to people who have never smoked a cigarette before. It is bad enough people are vaping, but teenagers are being harmed even worse because their bodies are still evolving and growing.
Most teenagers who are addicted to vaping are most likely in denial that vaping is and can be seriously bad for you. Teenagers like to believe that the e-cigarette products that they get their hands on are harmless and could not possibly do any harm. Based on all the evidence stated, it is clear that that is not true. According to Azure Thompson, “With or without nicotine, the evidence to date suggests that e-cigarettes and other vaping devices are not risk-free” (“Are Nicotine-Free E-Cigarettes Harmful?”). As much as some teenagers want to believe that vaping cannot be bad, it really can. They are harming themselves by information that they might not even know about.
If there are some teens who do know the potential risks of vaping, they may not think that any of that can happen to them. Most teenagers, especially pre-teens, may not know everything about vaping and maybe only do it because it is the new thing or because they see everyone else doing it so they assume it is a good thing. Elizabeth Fernandez writes about what Mark L Rubenstein has to say about teenage vaping: ‘Teenagers need to be warned that the vapor produced by e-cigarettes is not harmless water vapor, but actually contains some of the same toxic chemicals found in smoke from traditional cigarettes,’ said lead author Mark L. Rubenstein, Md, a professor of pediatrics at UCSF.
‘Teenagers should be inhaling air not products with toxins in them.’ (Fernandez) Teenagers need to be told this kind of information and others need to be taking actions on trying to stop this epidemic from happening any further. Teens need to be more educated on what flavorings, vapor, and nicotine-free vape can do to your body. Having the young body take such toxic substances is dangerous. It can cause people to have unnecessary reactions to the body that should not be happening at such a young age. According to Lindsey Konkel, “There is also moderate evidence linking vaping to a short-term rise in blood pressure, and to harmful stiffening of blood vessels” (Konkel).
Vaping can cause types of conditions, like the ones stated, to happen to young teenagers. Conditions like these are most likely to happen when you get much older. It may be short-term, but you can still get severely hurt from vaping. In conclusion, vaping on e-cigarettes is dangerous in general, whether if that is inhaling vapor, vaping different flavorings, or vaping nicotine-free vape. Teenage vaping has not been shown enough concern. Teenagers and the incoming generation, need to be educated on what vaping can really do. Studies and experiments are still being worked on to this day to prove just that.
Many teenagers today are being harmed by the dangerous chemicals that are in vape and they do not even know it. They believe vaping with or without nicotine is the safest way to vape, however, that is not the case. Studies have said they do not know the long-term effects of vaping, however, they do know the long-term effects of smoking cigarettes. If vaping turns out to have the exact same results, the young generation is going to have a harder time recovering from the effects that vaping and smoking has on the human body.
Works Cited
- Board, Editorial. “Teens Who Vape: Will a New Craze Invite a Health Crisis?” Chicagotribune.com, Chicago Tribune, 9 Apr. 2018. Accessed October 17, 2018.
- Rapaport, Lisa. “Even without Nicotine, e-Cigarettes Can Still Damage Lungs.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 9 Feb. 2018. October 28, 2018.
- “Are Nicotine-Free E-Cigarettes Harmful?” Center on Addiction, 1 Oct. 2018. Accessed October 24, 2018.
- Fernandez, Elizabeth. “E-Cigarette Use Exposes Teens to Toxic Chemicals.” US San Francisco, 5 Mar. 2018. Accessed October 28, 2018.
- Konkel, Lindsey. “E-Cigarettes Don’t Need Nicotine to Be Toxic.” Science News for Students, 6 Apr. 2018. Accessed 24, 2018.
