Dangers Behind the Pod

Vaping, the new craze among the younger generation. This epidemic of teen vaping has affected many teens around the US as well as around the world. Studies have shown that twenty-eight percent of high schoolers vape in 2019. This has become a serious issue in today's society. In 2019 more than 2,200 people have gotten sick from the toxic vaping devices.The Ohio State University has launched a new hotline for those who vape thus creating a response for the outbreak in vaping. Through this hotline patients can schedule a visit with a physician or specialist or can be referred to a program that can help the vaper kick their addiction to vaping. In the article ‘Ohio State Launches a New Hotline to Connect People Who Vape With Help’ it talks about some of the symptoms those who vape may experience. These symptoms include “Cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest pain, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, chills, or weight loss.” In some cases victims have been hospitalized due to their lungs collapsing. In Florida a “teen says vaping cause lung to collapse” , he required to have surgery to repair the hole in his lung. If this had been a bigger hole in his lung this could have caused him to receive a lung transplant. This causes them to be a top priority for lung transplants bumping those who have been waiting for years down the list. Vapers who then need new lungs take away someone's chance to get a new set of lungs that didn’t intentionally destroy them.

Even if one does not claim to get sick by vaping products they are still a threat to those who use them. There have been multiple cases of Juul’s and other vaping products blowing up while in use. In the New York Times article ‘E-Cigarette Exploded in a Teenager’s Mouth, Damaging His Jaw’ it explains that a mother had bought a vaping kit for her son. She did this in hopes that he would quit smoking. Her and her husband were in the living room when they heard a pop. In the article it explains that the son “raced in, holding his bloody jaw”, the vaping device had exploded in his mouth. Other events that have happened are a Texas man dying after his e-cigarette explodes in his face severing his artery. Vaping devices don’t just explode when in use, a case occurred when a salesman’s vape exploded in his pocket.

Companies that make these death sticks do not care about those who abuse the products health. They care about their business not how many people die from the product. Juul forecasted a “revenue of $3.4 billion dollars” in sales for 2019. In many cases the companies only created these vaping devices are also the owners of cigarette lines. They make sure they have business in the future by targeting the younger generations, creating a new line of smokers to buy into the product. Teens should not be putting their lives in danger just because a device that makes them look cool in front of their friends. They should be thinking about their future and how putting these toxic chemicals in their body can make a drastic change for the worst.