Let us consider all the disgusting habits that people have. There are drugs, heavy drinking, and then there is the obnoxious habit of smoking. Not pleasant for passers-by, and not great for the smoker either. Nevertheless, there is a nice replacement commonly known as vaping. These days, every high street seems to have at least one of those vape shops, and if it doesn’t, then you are bound to find a corner shop which sells the juices anyhow, and if all else fails, then you are guaranteed to find those little disposable bars as an alternative. Therefore, most likely you would resent resorting to smoking cigarettes, because you are too aware of how unhealthy it is.
“Vape Culture”
While most people start vaping to quit smoking cigarettes, there is a cool vibe which vape shops have about them. Because while each of the so called vape lounges operate as a shop, they also operate as a “kind of neighborhood bar,” where each new customer receives a familiar greeting and an exchange of pleasantries. Furthermore, there is a sense of unity at vape shops, in that people are connected by how they have or are trying to give up cigarettes, and that they are afraid of new governmental regulations which may come into place, to “destroy their newfound habit and hobby.” This way, those who frequently visit vape shops to purchase their products, do not just feel as if they are going into a shop, but they feel that they are part of a wider community. Therefore, customers are likely to have a positive experience going into vape shops, therefore they are more likely to return. They even have trade shows, fairs and conventions relating to vaping which offer an array of products, parties, and vaping contests. Therefore, it is easy to see how it has evolved into more of a culture or community.
Of course, influencers and celebrities have also advocated the usage of vaping with Leonardo Dicaprio, Katy Perry and Tom Hardy all being known to vape, according to study breaks.com. American mass-media more frequently publishes photos of actors and other famous people with vaporizers in their hands, just like it did in the past with celebrities smoking. Vaping is also used in modern music videos or commercials where the smoke from the vaporizers is used as steam for special effects. Now while this is far from ideal, it is easy to see why young people would be more likely to get hooked as a result, it is better than being presented with a load of very underweight-looking models smoking cigarettes. Meanwhile it becomes easy to see how there must be something very cool about these dumbass tricks where blowing clouds has become some badass sport, where vapers use the highest power vape mods to produce the biggest clouds. It has even become competitive, where there are even sponsors involved.
Vaping and Toxic Masculinity?
According to vice again, many argue that vaping has a “toxic masculinity” problem, mainly because of smokers being more likely to be male, therefore it is likely to be the case that more people trying to give up by smoking are also likely to be male, even though a greater proportion of smokers who turn to vaping in attempt to give up are female. Although what exemplifies this, are the odd behaviors associated with vaping, including vaping into someone’s face. Which just happens to scream America and fragile masculinity at the same time.
Advantages of Vaping
For a start, vaping is deemed 95% safer than vaping, which is obviously a substantial amount. And although we are not aware of all the long-term impacts, vaping has been popular for a lot longer than two years, and while the effects of smoking on the body can be documented after two years, “the users of vapor products showed no negative health issues.” Suggesting that vaping is healthier than smoking, at least in the short run. Moreover, in the US, the rise in experimentation with vaping among college students has been accompanied by record declines in cigarette smoking according to study breaks. Therefore, while vaping is by no means ideal, it does present a healthier option to smoking, and it has discouraged many from starting up smoking. Whilst it does not lead to a ton of cigarette buts being dropped on the floor, although saying this, one could easily drop one of the plastic disposables on the floor instead.
The Downfalls of Vaping
Short run impacts of vaping can include dehydration and migraines, especially considering that it is easy to overdo vaping when trying it for the first time. Furthermore, whilst they do not contain some of the toxic substances that cigarettes contain, most of them still contain nicotine. And nicotine can harm parts of the brain that control attention and learning, can increase risk of mood and attention problems, can harm the developing brain, and it can be addictive. Also, , some vape shops make their own juice, which could result in one is using something with higher concentrations of nicotine than they think, meaning that they could end up getting more addicted to nicotine rather than succeeding with trying to wean themselves off it. One last thing is that anyone selling vape products is obviously trying to make a profit. Therefore, it is unsurprising that there is such a range of fancy flavors, meaning that more people would be inclined to try it, especially young people.
Impacts of Vaping on Young People
With over 7000 flavors available, between 2011 and 2019, the number of high school students using e-cigarettes grew from 1.5% to 27.5%. Furthermore, sales of e-cigarettes with 4% or greater nicotine concentration increased from 12.3% of the market to 74.7%, whilst zero nicotine products made up less than 1% of the market. Suggesting that young people who take up vaping are likely to get hooked on nicotine. What’s more, the impact of vaping is not something that is well known with parents, where studies show that parents receive little communication from schools concerning the impacts of vaping. Being unaware of the detrimental impact of nicotine on teenagers, whilst most did not know that JUUL pods contained nicotine.
So now we know that vaping is an interesting culture. Plus, whilst vaping has its advantages and disadvantages, it is reasonable to contend that the advantages do outweigh the disadvantages. Because even though it has been proven that young people are likely to get hooked, it is better than being hooked on smoking actual cigarettes. Although, at the same time, it is important to be aware of the cheekiness of vape shops, in that they are trying to make more money by appealing to children.
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