Views on vaping have dramatically changed over the years. Celebrities and popular people on social media sites are now making it a normal and accepted thing to do. Most of us have all seen someone on the side of the road holding a rectangular object to their lips and all of a sudden having a cloud of smoke erupt from their mouth. But no one really knows if these vapes are really safe or if they are better than tobacco. New studies are being done to see the real effects of vaping on the human body.

According to Center on Addiction, vaping involves inhaling and exhaling the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or a similar device. The term is used because you can not “smoke” an e-cigarette, since there is no smoke, only vapor. Some people say that vaping was created to take the place of cigarettes. It was said to be a healthier option with less added chemicals. People that used to smoke cigarettes and are trying to quit are the main types of people that turn to vaping. As noted in Vaping Daily “it was found that only 1% of the people that had tried e-cigarettes were never smokers. It is very rare for a non-smoker to take up vaping. E-cigs are an alternative tobacco product for adult tobacco consumers.” Vaping is thought to have less negative effects than smoking originally does. No bad breath, no cigarette burns, reduces the risk of cancer, and other smoking related diseases. Although there are still risks associated with vaping. Research conducted at the UNC Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma, and Lung Biology, shows vaping has the same effect as smoking when it comes to suppressing immune genes. Vaping also has quite a few side effects such as dry mouth, coughing,dry skin, itchiness, dry eyes, insomnia, and bleeding gums.

The liquid used to create the smoke in vapes are called E-liquids.They contain three major components, including a VG/PG base, nicotine, and flavoring. Just like cigarettes, vapes contain nicotine which can lead to addiction.It is a fact that all these side effects are a down side, although when compared to smoking cigarettes, vapes are much less harmful. The main concern in society with the vapes are the increasing number of underage teens getting hooked onto it. Mariana Pachron a sophomore at Suncoast High School said, “I know vaping has some bad effects so I never decided to do it, but I see a lot of my friends and people in school doing it.” The Washington Post says that vaping has rapidly become popular among high school students. In 2015, students in all grades were considerably more likely to have used an e-cigarette devices than to have smoked an actual, physical cigarette. Whether this is, on balance, good news or bad news remains hotly contested among public health researchers.  

Overall, if you can stay away from vaping, do so. But if you are a heavy smoker and do not see yourself not smoking nicotine any time soon than vaping would be the best option.