Vaping is not a new invention, it’s been around for years, marketed as a healthy alternative to smoking and eventually finding itself into the bathrooms and backrooms of high schools and colleges across the country. The sound of keys jangling down the hall tends to trigger a flood of adolescents to stream out of the bathroom one by one like a prison lineup. I was one of these young adults, sitting in class on a Monday morning, eyes continuously darting up the clock waiting for it to strike 8:45. This was the moment my friends and I decided would be the time to meet in the restroom for our fix of nicotine, so was 9:30, 10:55, 12:30 and so on. I found myself, like so many others, sitting, waiting, wishing for another trip to the restroom to cope with the misery of rotting in class.
The side effects of my salad days still remain. I frequently take a bathroom break at least once per class, not because I need nicotine, but because my brain is now wired to believe that each class needs a break. Every time I see the bright colors or smell the pungent fruity or minty flavor of a vape my brain doesn’t allow me to wander in any direction other than back to the nicotine in front of me. “Can I rip your vape?” A question heard around the country, replacing the infamous, “Could I bum a cig?”
Cigarettes were almost a thing of the past, until someone threw a battery on it and some fruity flavors and the whole world folded. But why? How did vaping infiltrate the lives of millions of non-smokers, and who do I blame for still having the craving for it right now, even after quitting years ago.
The first reason is apparent to most people: the marketing behind these devices, fruity flavors, and sleek designs, which appeal to the younger generation. “Oh no, this is just a thumb drive,” a quote taken directly from my friend in Graphic Design class our sophomore year of high school when being questioned by our teacher. Yes, it worked, it actually worked multiple times, in English and chemistry. We used to joke that he successfully completed the hat trick of tom-foolery at Stevens high school before finally being called to the office – putting the foolery to rest and banishing the infamous “thumb drive” to the depths of the vape drawer in the principal’s desk. 20 minutes later we were both in the restroom again “coping” with what just went down.
Health risks were never mentioned in my friend group, “It’s healthier than smoking!” That’s all young me who never smoked a cigarette before had to know. I stored my JUUL in an Altoid container on my desk, thinking I was sneaky and no one would find it. A couple hours later, while playing Rainbow Six, my dad walks in to talk, “Oh you got Altoids?” He picked up the container and flicked it open. We locked eyes, he was completely oblivious to what was in that red tin, slowly setting it down and walking out only to come back minutes later after what I could assume was a quick google search, deducing what it was and confiscating it.
“It’s just flavored water!” I said naively, thinking that inhaling vaporized water is somehow safe. Looking back, the only thing I’m disappointed about is that I didn’t have an Altoid to share with the guy. This wasn’t the last time I’d plead my case in a winless battle against the nicotine police (my parents), but it was the most memorable.
One by one, like dominos falling over, my friends and I fell into the vape trap, each one of us knocking the next one in the order down with the rest of us. The domino ahead of me was my friend Lee, (Lee isn’t his real name but he probably doesn’t want to be mentioned). We were sitting in my car in the parking lot of McDonald’s on the west side of Rapid when the domino fell, harder than most. Through the combined peer pressure of us all, Lee hit the vape and hit the floor, literally, becoming so dizzy and buzzed that the hard asphalt welcomed his face like a cool pillow. Lee never got as addicted as the rest of us, however, it was only a few days ago when I heard him speak to another one of my friends “I’ll rip your vape though.”
The exponential rise in vaping promoted some response and regulation, many states raised the legal age to purchase nicotine to 21, adhering to federal guidelines. The FDA took action in 2019, banning the sale of certain flavored e-cigarettes. My friend still has one of those banned products, a mango JUUL pod, worth its weight in gold and causing the cultured readers of this paper to salivate as we speak. The truth is, though, that these bans and regulations are too little too late, greedy nicotine corporations began losing money and needed to make up profits, creating a new, younger market. Ayrton Senna drove a McLaren, no one could tell though with the sheer size of the Marlboro logo on his championship winning car drawing all the attention. Nowadays Lando Norris drives a McLaren, plastered with Vuse logos. Big tobacco is still the same heartless, conniving companies that just adapt to the changing world, siphoning as much cash as possible from anyone trapped in addiction.
