Vaping Gets Ugly

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Vaping is a serious issue that comes with a whole host of issues. This new form of nicotine has proven to be a problem, particularly in adolescents. That’s why the City of Jacksonville launched “Vaping Gets Ugly”: a campaign dedicated to discouraging teens from vaping and informing them about the negative side effects it has.

What is Vaping?
Vaping starts with a chemical-filled liquid, usually with a catchy name. You stick it inside an e-cigarette device that boils it, and then you suck down the gas. E-cigarettes, or e-cigs, are small devices that generate the high temperatures needed to turn vape juice into an aerosol so you can inhale the chemical mist.

For young people, vaping can seem like a harmless thing to do with friends, but every single hit is filled with chemicals that do nasty stuff. Young vapers are uniquely vulnerable to these chemical effects because their bodies and brains are still developing and change rapidly. Vaping chemicals can disrupt the complex and vital processes happening in young minds.

This means diarrhea, bloating, nausea, anxiety and a brain that just doesn’t work the way it should.

Vaping Side Effects

Anxiety Disorders: Developing adolescent brains are already more vulnerable to anxiety and mood issues. Nicotine, found in more than 98% of vape juices, makes young people more anxious now, keeps them anxious for longer, and makes dealing with anxiety disorders more difficult. Nicotine is so bad for us that it starts to damage young brains after just one hit. 

Nausea & Vomiting: The chemicals used to add flavor to vape juices often make people feel sick and even throw up. Even if you avoid the more than 7,000 flavored vape juices out there you’re not safe. The glycerol/glycerin that can make up 50% of that liquid causes nausea and vomiting, while nicotine is known to make people “nic sick.” These chemicals damage your body, and that damage can linger long after you stop feeling sick.

Memory Loss & Attention Deficit: Your brain continues developing until you are about 25 years old. Thanks to the nicotine, formaldehyde, lead and other chemicals commonly found in vape mist, vaping changes brain cell activity in the parts of your brain responsible for memory, attention and learning. Literally, the more you vape the less your brain can cope with life, and the less it can accomplish in the future.

Bloating: We know that not all vape juice ingredients are safe and that many cause real harm. What you may not know is that vaping involves boiling and inhaling ingredients like glycerol, which leads to bloating, cramps, indigestion and worse. The same goes for many of the vape flavorings. The more hits, the worse the bloat. Basically, your body is telling you that these chemicals are not your friend.

Addiction: It takes less than 10 seconds for nicotine to reach your brain with that "nic hit." But after just a few vapes that same nicotine actually lowers your ability to feel pleasure, so you need more to get the same effect. This is how addiction works: your brain is re-wired to demand that hit, pushing you to vape more frequently. More than 98% of vape juices contain nicotine - and the nicotine amounts in those juices have more than doubled in the last five years. Vaping is not about fun flavors, it's about using a drug that immediately harms bodies and brains.

Organ Damage: It's not a mystery or a secret: vaping is an unhealthy cocktail of nasty chemicals by any standard. Users suck in clouds of nicotine, formaldehyde, heavy metal particles, diacetyl, glycerol, ethanol, volatile organic compounds, acrolein and more. If you vape, you're damaging your gums, your lungs, your blood vessels, your brain and your heart.

Visit coj.net more information on teen vaping and how to prevent it.

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