“Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs around, and new studies suggest an overdose can have deadly consequences. High levels of nicotine can not only create a stronger addiction but also cause your body to overdose on the drug.” https://www.lung.org/blog/nic-sick says. Vaping may seem fun and easy to manage, however, what people don’t take into account is that vaping has some serious consequences that impact your health and social life.
Many teenagers start vaping for a multitude of reasons some of which may involve the wide variety of flavors and designs or even just witnessing the people around them vaping. They may also think it’s safer and easier to quit than other drugs. However, nicotine is comparably as addictive as opioids, alcohol, and even cocaine according to https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/nicotine-dependence.
Ms. Gibson, one of the nurses at Arlington High School says “There’s a lot of studies that show that nicotine is one of the most difficult substances to stop…even more than some of the even harder drugs.” Vaping was first introduced as an alternative to help chronic smokers quit smoking cigarettes and quickly picked up in popularity especially among young adults, they were also rumored to be less addictive than cigarettes. However, recently it was shown that vapes contain the same amount if not more nicotine than cigarettes making vaping just as addictive if not more addictive than smoking a cigarette.
Some teenagers may start vaping due to the people around them doing it whether it’s family, friends, or just people in their community. The people around you affect your life and your decisions, that’s why it’s important to surround yourself with people who encourage you to make good decisions. Peer pressure could be a contributing factor as well, “a teen’s perspective of their friends is very important to them…even negative influences can be in effect.” Ms. Bennett, a counselor at Arlington High School said.
While vaping may seem like it’s not that big of a deal or that it’s not that serious, with all the unknown health consequences and the recent price increases it’s really not worth it. However the community here at Arlington High School has seen a recent decrease in vape usage. “There’s been a decrease in the amount that we’ve seen on campus recently but probably if I had to do a random guess I’d say 3-4 a week but it depends on the week.” Arlington High School’s principal Ms. Herman says.
