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The Problems Associated with Smoking and Vaping
[Name of the Writer]
[Name of the Institution]
The Problems Associated with Smoking and Vaping
Introduction
In accordance with a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS), conventional smoking has seen a great decline over the past few decades among the youth. However, there has been an increase in the use of other tobacco-based products amongst young adults according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Scientists and researchers have seen that the main product that is gaining hype among young adults is "e-cigarettes." It is what the recent youth calls vaping. Although there has been a decrease in the use of cigarettes by no means does vaping live up to the health standards, in fact, it has a whole list of health risks. At the very start of this new trend, individuals thought that vaping is a good alternative to avoid health issues associated with smoking. However, that notion has been proven wrong by recent deaths due to vaping. These e-cigarettes are usually made of flavoring, nicotine and other addictive ingredients. The youth denotes the products as e-cigarettes, e-cigs, and vape pens and so on. Many health risks are associated with the usage of these vaping devices and the general public is not even aware of the health issues that vaping can cause. Unlike smoking, vaping is a considerably newer technology. The worst part is that the youth of the country is getting affected by this new technology the most. This paper will look into the health issues associated with smoking and vaping, further, light will be shed on the interventions that are being used to prevent the issues.
Discussion
There are many chain smokers out there who believe that using e-cigarette's is the best way to transition to a nicotine-free life (Chamberlain et al., 2019). While quitting smoking is a great step, however, switching from a high dose of nicotine to a lower amount is not the way to go. While vaping is far less damaging but that does not take away the fact that it is addictive and can release substantial amounts of toxins in an individual's body. The lungs are not safe one way or the other. So, individuals might as well quit smoking once and for all instead of getting hooked on another nicotine based addictive product. The worst thing about vaping is that a lot of youth are getting attracted to it because of the packaging and flavoring. Under a report by U.S. surgeon general, the habit of vaping among high school kids has increased up to 900%. The unfortunate part is that around 40% of the user have never even used any tobacco-based product before. All these children have gotten on this route because they think that e-cigarettes are not harmful like traditional cigarettes. Furthermore, vaping has become a trend and most young adults use it to be socially accepted by the “it crowd.”
Yes, smoking is far more intense and dangerous than vaping but that does not take away the fact that an e-cigarette has its dangers. To prove that fact, a whopping three dozen individuals have lost their lives because of vaping. There is a vaping-related lung illness that is taking over by storm. CDC has claimed that the new sum of deaths has increased from 26 to 33. The individuals who are falling victim to vaping range between 17-75. The average age is said to be 44. The total amount of cases that came in with health issues because of vaping raised to 1479 from 1300. The majority of the people who have been affected by the outbreak are below the age of 35 (Carey et al., 2019). This fact proves that it is the younger generation that is falling victim to vaping.
The professionals of live science have reported that the reason behind the deadly outbreak is mainly a "chemical exposure." Following the recent claims of CDC, the contents that are being used in the e-cigarettes have THC which is driven from marijuana. So the concoction that is being formed by the conjunction of all the ingredients is proving to be quite toxic and deadly in some cases. Yes, the death rate of vaping is far less than smoking but that does not mean that over the years it will not increase (Meltzer et al., 2017). Nowadays, CDC is performing biopsies on the lungs of the deceased victims so they can get to the bottom of the real problem.
As far as the interventions are concerned, e-cigarette producing company Juul has announced that they will be suspending the sales of their fruit-flavored vapers. It was around last year that the company stopped selling its e-cigarettes in retail stores. Further, Trump's administration is working around banning the flavored e-cigarettes from the market for good. When this fact came out in the open last year that is when Juul decided to discontinue their cigarettes in the market. Further, most of the interventions have been school and society based. The young adults are given awareness when it comes to the harms of vaping in school. However, unfortunately, there have not been many results seen because of these interventions. There is not even enough awareness that can make a global impact.
Everyone knows about the health dangers associated with smoking. The reason behind that is the unlimited research and awareness created through advertisement and researchers. Yes, people still smoke but they are aware of the fact that it is harmful. On the contrary, there are certain parts of the world where people are not even aware that vaping can cause life-threatening conditions. So, the awareness in regards to this issue is quite low. As far as the awareness made in schools and society are concerned, it is not working. Following CDC, there was a 50% increase in the number of students who vape from 2013-2014. Students as young as 8th graders have become a part of this vaping frenzy because of the failing interventions. The amount of the victims keeps on increasing and their age keeps on decreasing by the day. Further, Juul might have stopped regulating the product in the market but that does not mean that e-cigarettes have completely vanished from the market. Although, the Government is working on the ban policy but it is not doing any good (Rahman, et al., 2015). As research shows that most people are simply shifting back to smoking.
Conclusion
There is no doubt in the fact that there are many health-related issues associated with smoking and vaping, but is that all that we need to worry about? No, the above paper has proven the fact that there needs to be more awareness and research so that people know what they are getting themselves into. It is not just the fact that vaping is harmful, it is the notion that it should be used instead of smoking that is more troublesome. Switching one addictive and harmful product with another is not the answer. People need to be given the right awareness so they know that either smoking or vaping is not something to adopt as a hobby. Further, there is still awareness when it comes to smoking but people are not conscious about the fact that vaping is very harmful. One of the major reasons behind that is the lack of research when it comes to e-cigarettes. Researchers have still not gotten to the bottom of the health issues and problems that are associated with e-cigarettes. The government needs to invest in this area to bring about a difference. Lastly, regulation can only help when there is no other alternative. The alternative to vaping is cigarettes, and they pose a greater health threat.
References
Chamberlain, S., Grant, J., Lust, K., Fridberg, D., & King, A. (2019). E-Cigarette Use (Vaping) is Associated with Illicit Drug Use, Mental Health Problems, and Impulsivity in University Students.
Carey, F. R., Rogers, S. M., Cohn, E. A., Harrell, M. B., Wilkinson, A. V., & Perry, C. L. (2019). Understanding susceptibility to e-cigarettes: A comprehensive model of risk factors that influence the transition from non-susceptible to susceptible among e-cigarette naïve adolescents. Addictive behaviors, 91, 68-74.
Meltzer, L. R., Simmons, V. N., Sutton, S. K., Drobes, D. J., Quinn, G. P., Meade, C. D., ... & Bullen, C. R. (2017). A randomized controlled trial of a smoking cessation self-help intervention for dual users of tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes: Intervention development and research design. Contemporary clinical trials, 60, 56-62.
Rahman, M. A., Hann, N., Wilson, A., Mnatzaganian, G., & Worrall-Carter, L. (2015). E-cigarettes and smoking cessation: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 10(3), e0122544.
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