Fabricated in 2003, the new addictive substance, vaping, has taken over the lives of many adolescents and individuals. Teens do not seem to have the self-control that is needed to put the cravings of this narcotic matter to rest, thus resulting in the number of users proliferating as the days go on. 

Vaping has taken the winning spot over the previous inhaling addiction, smoking cigarettes, and quickly consumed the young generation of teens. With this being the 2.0 of cigarettes, teenagers do not seem to connect the dots that it is brainwashing them by the thousands. Just as cigarettes once manipulated the minds of many, vaping mechanisms are doing the same to our youthful genesis. People believe that since cigarettes were proven life-threatening, vaping is the “healthier” option, which is far from the truth. In the past year, cigarettes have dropped in popularity by nearly 6% while JUUL sales increased 154%. These recent findings have been advantageous to the argument that this “activity” needs to be put to rest, fast, before it wipes out our naive generation.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly 40% of 12th graders reported that they have vaped in the past 12 months of the study conducted in 2017. With this substance consisting of nearly 40 mg of nicotine in each cartridge, there is no doubt that with one “hit” these threatening inventions can get kids obsessed. Although the dangerous effects of vaping are not instantaneous, it has been scientifically proven that they can be destructive. A recent Harvard University study found that more than 90% of flavored vape liquids had harmful levels of chemicals. Inhalation of these chemicals is associated with the development of “popcorn lung,” a disease that damages lung tissue, causes chronic cough and shortness of breath.

Maybe it is the release that it gives kids, or the idea of being rebellious. Whatever the reason may be, it has come down to the fact that this vaporizing drug has been shown to portray effects that are equally as corruptive as smoking cigarettes. The risks are high and teens have been warned. Cigarettes may be slowly coming to extinction, but the appearance of vaping is just getting started.