Children are much more likely to become addicted to nicotine which fuels an industry trying to make money off them. The Center for Disease Control published their Youth Behavior Survey in 2018 which shows the number of adolescents who experimented with cigarettes was down to 28.9%, the number for vaping is going in the opposite direction though with a reported 42.2% of adolescents that have tried vaping (CDC, 2018).
Saying vaping is a safer alternative to smoking is like saying you would rather get hit by a car than a bus. The damage caused to your body is wholly preventable and the current culture shows vaping to be what is in right now, just like smoking was decades ago. The e-liquid used in vaping has still shown to contain carcinogens like chemicals found in antifreeze and formaldehyde, and the nicotine concentration is around 100 times stronger than cigarettes, depending on what is being used (ALA, 2016). This does not mean that nicotine free e-liquids are safe though as they still contain dangerous chemicals in the flavoring.
The worry lies with knowing the public opinion of cigarettes changed with finding out more about them. As time went on, we developed the technology to see how cigarettes negatively affected people, and for many of those people it was already too late. We already have the technology and knowledge to see how vaping can negatively affect the users. We have seen an emergence in bronchiolitis obliterans, probably better known as popcorn lung. Popcorn lung is the irreversible scarring of the lungs from smoking a chemical found in many flavors of e-liquids and Juul pods. Keep in mind, these are all chemicals that are approved by the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers’ Association. These flavorings are made to be ingested, not inhaled and are only generally recognized as safe (ALA 2018).
Do we need to wait for widespread cases of irreversible, painful, and expensive medical conditions, or can we agree that allowing companies to put children at risk is something that is unacceptable? When vaping is no longer considered in then the children that have been smoking for however many years will then have to deal with a nicotine addiction they might not know they have. Laser Acupuncture is one of the most effective ways of breaking the addiction to nicotine and AcuLaser Treatment Centre offers discounted rates to teens who are looking to stop vaping.
American Lung Association (ALA). (2017). Health effects of smoking. Retrieved from http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/ smoking-facts/health-effects-of-smoking.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2018). Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS).