The Vape culture Phenomenon
Over the past few years vaping has exploded in popularity, especially amongst the younger generation looking to replace the highly addictive and deadly habit of smoking cigarettes, with a potentially less damaging alternative. Although the research on its health effects are not fully conclusive due to its fairly new rise in popularity, it certainly has other benefits that many seem to embrace happily as an improvement on the seemingly archaic habit of smoking a classic cigarette. They not only emit a much less intrusive and long lasting odor compared to cigarettes, the quickly dissipating vapour usually contains fruity or minty tones making it much easier to endulge without bothering others in the direct vicinity and provide a good cover for those who choose the more secretive approach to nicotine consumption. It seems much more tolerable than smoke breathe in general and, lets face it, nobody likes being bombarded with somebody who smells like an ash tray, much less hugging or kissing them. They also provide an avenue for quitting the nasty habit of nicotine use all together for many in the older generations. These small, portable, and user friendly devices also make the whole process of getting you nic fix much less messy and complicated, as well as, in comparison to the outrageous cost of a bad smoking habit, will make your wallet thank you as well. For some, the entire vape industry has become more of a lifestyle/culture than ever before with tik-toks (e.g. the blink challenge) making vapes a pseudo fashion accessory that users show off on their social media, trying to stay on top of new trends and products. The wide array of flavours, methods of use and types of devices also makes for a fully personal and customizable experience to satisfy even the most particular of consumers. Much as the tobacco industry did in the past, celebs are parading around their different vapes and devices and because they seem to be less stigmatized than cigarettes these glowing endorsements appear to rarely be paid for by the producers of the products. The culture has branched out to even the most invested of users with cloud competitions and modded at home devices surfacing as well, though perhaps not as popular as they once were.
The name of the game now is disposable vapes. From all the different products on the industry these seem to have taken vapers by storm, also providing a way lower financial barrier to entry for those curious about vape. The massive array of flavours and brands and their usually colourful and alluring packaging have all surely contributed to the enormous market share they have amongst users, despite the unfortunate environmental concerns when compared to devices that have reusable batteries. Even big tobacco has seen the lucrative nature of the business with some of the biggest names such as Imperial tobacco (Dumorier) and Phillip Morris (Belmont, Benson and Hedges) acquiring massive brands in vape like Vuse and Veev. All things considered, we know the health risks of nicotine and its addictive properties, however, it is yet to be seen what the long term health effects from vaping may be. What we do know is vapes contain none of the lethal carcinogenic chemicals that essentially make up the entire contents of a cigarette. It feels safe to say they wont hold a candle to the devastating death toll that big tobacco products have racked up over the past century. With that being said, as much as taking the edge off can feel nice in the moment, it is important to not undermined how quickly and easily people become addicted and that it is, without question, heathier to live a nicotine free lifestyle. With the industry advancing everyday hopefully there will be many more answers in the near future about what these devices will do in the long term but I do personally suspect there will be a minuscule percentage of users who eventually have serious health complications due to vape use. As with any new phenomenon, its effects will only truly be seen after years of study and the opportunity to analyze the effects on people who have been using these products for decades. This industry is evolving fast and the technology is getting better every single day. The question now is, what’s next in the world of vapes?
