The Newest Form of Addiction

Vaping. Such an innocent thing right? How can such a little thing with wonderful flavorers cause harm? According to the website, “Market Watch” in an article titled ‘Millions of teens are Addicted to Vaping, and There’s Nothing Anybody Can Do About It,’ “Teen vaping is an epidemic that now affects some 3.6 million underage users of Juul and other e-cigarettes.” The article continues to talk about the growing addiction and how children as young as 11 have become addicted to this “harmless” habit. As a senior at Plymouth High School, I have seen and known many people who started vaping as a fun thing to do and now are addicted. Most people I know started vaping to learn tricks because it looked “cool.”

As Sourins and Juuls became the new rage, so did addiction. Vaping for fun with friends turned into something people had to do in order to avoid side effects like anxiety, irritability, headaches, and more. Teens are drawn to the colourful devices and tasty juices, causing young people who barely even know what nicotine is to become addicted. These devices come in small forms that make it easy to hide from adults. Companies say their products are useful to help people who are trying to quit smoking, however “Market Watch” also says that “there’s been little research on them that claim or their long-term health effects, particularly in young people.” This is concerning to adults and parents because teens don’t see the long term effects of e-cigarettes because they haven’t been around long enough yet. The lack of information about the harm causes teenagers to feel nothing bad could ever happen to them.

Teens who started vaping may now want to quit now that addiction has set in. This Could be very hard for many. The article ‘Why Quitting Is Hard’ from the website “Smoke free,” says that “the more you smoke the more nicotine you need in order to feel normal, making it even harder to quit.” This article helps explain that when teens are vaping for fun, they are making it even harder for themselves to quit later in life. Overall, vaping has made underage teens and even children become addicted to a habit they believe is harmless. The designs of e-cigarettes cause teens to try vaping, and the nicotine keeps them coming back for more.