Vaping, or e-cigarettes have been marketed as a form of ‘healthy smoking’ to teenagers since its invention in the mid-2000s. Instead of exhaling a dark cloud of nicotine, isn’t poofing out a colorful cloud of food flavoring so much more appealing? Charged with regular USB cables, vape pens are made fully accessible to the average person. With the threat of lung cancer gone and an aesthetic, great tasting substance coming from an easily operated device, it is clear as to why the rate of teen vaping have been skyrocketing since 2016. As stated in a Minnesota survey, 26.4% of high school juniors have vaped in the past 30 days. In that same survey, 76.1% of juniors stated that they thought that there is little to no risk in vaping. This unfortunately indicates that a good chunk of the population is not well-informed on the general topic of e-cigarettes. Although some pens do not contain marijuana, that does not mean not none do.
In the United States alone, the number of vaping-related injuries exceed 1,000 victims, where more than half are citizens under 21 years old. The severity of the resulting average lung injury is typically expected from chemical warfare victims. More extreme cases include the vape pen exploding in a teen’s mouth, shattering his teeth and jaws. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is unable to point out a specific ingredient or aspect of vaping that has led to the onset of injuries while doctors remain anxious over the still rising number of people vaping experimentally. So far, there is no clear conclusion nor cause to target to tackle the vaping crisis. Scientific truths such as the true contents of vape pens have been debated and the manufacturing of vape pens are being investigated, but uncertainty still hangs in the air.
TL;DR Please don’t vape when no one knows what’s going into that stuff.
The Roar 