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In school, most kids are taught that cigarettes are bad. This lesson makes sense, considering there are more than 480,000 cigarette-related deaths a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Although the danger of cigarettes has been well documented, many — the CDC included — did not know what to make of vaping when it came on the scene several years ago. As a result, vapes and e-cigs have been in the hands of young Americans because they are seen as a healthier nicotine fix. 

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of vape is “to inhale vapor through the mouth from a usually battery operated electronic device (such as an electronic cigarette) that heats up and vaporizes a liquid or solid.” Vape originally was invented to help people quit using cigarettes. 

There are several types of vape systems, including cig-a likes, vape pens, mods and pod mods (including brands like Juul). Mods and pod mods are the most common, and most contain nicotine. Grand View school nurse Cathy Strahan said that one Juul pod contains as much nicotine as 20 cigarettes.

Recently, there have been eight vaping-related deaths in America that have brought the safety of vaping to the forefront of many Americans’ minds. These deaths are due to a lung disease caused by vaping, and most of the deceased were young men with an average age of 19 years old, according to The Washington Post.

Mitchell Cole, a 23-year-old from Des Moines, was hospitalized in September due to vaping. Cole started smoking traditional cigarettes when he was 16 years old, and after about a year he was smoking a pack a day. He tried vaping as an alternative and started using an NJOY, which is similar to a Juul, but cheaper. Cole would go through two pods in a week (equivalent to a pack of cigarettes). He was slowing down on his nicotine intake, and he thought vaping was safe, so he kept doing it. 

Cole didn’t know the side effects until one morning, he woke up out of his natural sleep at around 7:20 a.m. took a few puffs from his NJOY and went back to sleep. He woke up an hour later not able to breathe. Cole’s throat was almost 100% closed, and when he looked in the mirror, his throat had become very red with bumps on it. Cole said his voice sounded like he was breathing in helium it was so tight.

He went to the emergency room and was rushed by the doctors to be seen immediately. His hands were turning purple from lack of oxygen. The ER doctors did many tests, and Cole’s drug test didn’t test positive for anything but nicotine. They found out Cole had popcorn lung, which is caused by too many puffs of vape when the vapor is too hot for your lungs. 

One of the bubbles caused by popcorn lung had burst that night, and all of the air that Cole breathed in leaked into his chest cavity. The air went around his heart and was also by his spinal canal. The emergency room doctors confirmed that this was caused by his NJOY vape.

So why would anyone vape, considering all of these recent deaths?

Corey Halfhill, CEO of Central Iowa Vapors, said, “A little over seven years ago, my wife was a pretty heavy smoker, and a friend of ours found e-cigarettes and gave one to my wife, and she quit overnight. I thought if my wife can quit that quick overnight, I’m sure there’s a lot of people who would be very interested as well.”

When asked his thoughts on the vaping deaths he said, “It’s an unfortunate thing; we don’t want that to happen. We want to help people with having success in stopping traditional cigarettes.” 

Halfhill said he has helped many people get off cigarettes and switch to vaping, which has fewer chemicals than traditional cigarettes, through his business.

However, some of those who were hospitalized admitted to using a THC product in their vape.

According to Halfhill, “There is the e-cigarette industry, and there is the cannabis vaping industry. That market (cannabis) generally mixes better in oil, and Vitamin E is a molecule in the oils. Oil is not for inhalation in larger particles … the biggest problem is the crossover, everyone is like, ‘it’s all vaping,’ but they’re two totally different industries.”

Juul has received much criticism for targeting a younger audience. In 2017, they were even giving presentations to high schoolers saying that their products were “totally safe” For Halfhill, those practices are disturbing. He said that Juul has some of the highest levels of nicotine, so there’s a higher chance kids are going to get addicted.  

In his shops, Halfhill makes sure they are checking customer’s IDs, as his purpose is to help people get off traditional cigarettes. Halfhill also said that many vape products are safe and that each ingredient in the vape juice is FDA approved.

Regardless, why are younger people who aren’t previously addicted to nicotine deciding to start vaping?

Hunter Melendez, a junior at GV, said he started vaping to fit in with his friends and that it’s a way of being socially accepted with others. It can be easy as a young adult to want to fit in by following what everyone else is doing.

Cole said that he would like to discourage anyone who is thinking about starting to vape because of his personal experience. 

“Do you want to die by 65 or even closer?” Cole asked. “Because I almost died at 23. If you want to vape, please know the risk you are getting into because it’s not worth your life. It’s not worth your health either. Just breathe oxygen! You don’t need to do that (vape).” 

For those who have already started vaping, Cole suggests nicotine gum. 

“(Getting hospitalized) was a giant wake up call for me really, I just need to better my health. Find a different habit,” he said “Chew gum or sunflower seeds, whatever you can pick up that is not as expensive and won’t hurt you so much.”

Much like Cole, Strahan said that young adults should value their bodies in a way that they can get the most out of life. “What you’re doing now has consequences for later,” Strahan said. “Your body is a really wonderful gift. I wish I had understood that more when I was your age, to respect and honor my body as a gift.”