There is an astonishing surge in e-cigarettes. Vaping was meant for adults attempting to quit cigarettes, but in truth, it made many people who were uninterested in “smoking” take up a new hobby.
E-cigarettes are much more popular among children and adolescents today – there has been a spike in tobacco use among this demographic since 2017. (1) In fact, 3% of adults are using such devices – but 20% of youth are. Blame the sexy packaging, the incessant Instagram ads, even the appealing flavors. Researchers at Yale University found that the ads themselves are activating the reward centers in teenagers’ brains.
Like it or not, vaping is big business and it is everywhere. Although smoking is declining, e-cigarettes are just gaining momentum and popularity. As an example, there were 7 million users in 2011 and 35 million a few years ago. There is substantial evidence that teens that try vaping are also more likely to try conventional cigarettes, according to The National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine. (2)
Juul has a popular e-cigarette that looks like a USB flash drive. However, one of its pods pack as much nicotine as 1-2 packs of cigarettes. (1) In many cases, adolescents are not aware of the nicotine in the products they were using.
How could something be dangerous when it smells like an apple?
There have been at least 1,479 cases across every State but Alaska connected to e-cigarettes. Vaping-linked illnesses have put seemingly healthy people in the hospital, many of whom were young men with a median age of 19. Many of these previously fit and healthy men were quickly in intensive care or on respirators. Coughing, chest pain, or shortness of breath were early symptoms before their hospitalization and many were diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome, which is a life-threatening condition that involves fluid buildup in the lungs. (2)
The majority – although not all of these cases – have been linked to THC vaping, but a nationwide investigation has found no particular vaping devices that have been linked to all patients. Many of the ill men who admitted to marijuana vaping were also found to have vitamin E oil in the products, which is not a product that the lungs can handle. (2) It was particularly found to be present in New York, with vitamin E acetate working as a thickening agent to adjust the THC levels. Black market marijuana products are of course, much cheaper, but there is speculation that these products in particular are what are making people so sick.
A study done at Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine found that the solvents meant to make a product “vapable” was just as damaging to the lungs as nicotine itself. (4)
Just as damaging to the lungs.
Even though it is just as damaging, the havoc in the lung is very different from cigarettes themselves. The mice used in the study had an abnormal amount of fat buildup due to a reaction to the solvents. (4)
Without years of evidence-based research on vaping, we truly are becoming lab mice for this new and potentially dangerous trend.
The FDA is currently working to outlaw the sales of most flavored nicotine products. San Francisco – home to Juul labs – has already banned all e-cigarette sales. In the meantime, the long-term consequences of using e-cigarettes remains unclear. (2)