According to Mansur Shaheen’s article “America's child vapedemic exposed: Average user starts at THIRTEEN” it’s shown that, “Overall 2.6million US adolescents are officially estimated to use e-cigarettes, or 14 percent of all American children between sixth and 12th grade.” Nicotine is a highly addictive drug found in tobacco but the problem is that vapes and e-cigarettes also have nicotine, high levels of it.

This leads into how nicotine in vapes, and e-cigarettes can act as a gateway drug. In Kristen Jones’ and Gary Salzman’s article “The Vaping Epidemic in Adolescents” they reference a study which revealed that the “teen population found increased risks of physical fighting, attempted suicide, and alcohol/marijuana use when comparing non-users to teens who smoked or vaped.” It also needs to be acknowledged that “vape devices have become the gateway to nicotine addiction, with nearly 80 percent of users saying their first experience was with e-cigarettes” (Shaheen). Vaping has been heavily advertised to the youth. 

This is the work of the tobacco industry, they know the damages that nicotine addiction causes but still continue to market to the impressionable youth. It’s clear that “pods are flavored to be attractive to adolescents, with everything from mint to gummi bear to frosted sugar cookie…studies have shown that flavor is one of the most important factors adolescents consider in trying e-cigarettes'' (Jones and Salzman). It is evident that these flavors are chosen to make youth think it’s safe and fun to vape. It makes it seem like it will be exciting, and these flavors make it seem, even yummy in a sense. Who doesn’t love a sugar cookie? The reasoning behind this choice, and all the other terrible attacks this industry has made on the youth is clear. 

Published by the American Lung Association, the article “10 Really Bad Things the Tobacco Industry Has Done – and Is Doing – to Entice Kids to Start Smoking” provides the stance that “tobacco companies callously and aggressively advertise to youth, because they know they are killing their current customers”. The tobacco industry has called the youth their “replacement smokers”. Poor decision making? Unsurprisingly, vaping is connected. Published by NIH, the article “Vaping Rises Among Teens” speaks about the fact that “Exposure to nicotine during youth can lead to addiction and cause long-term harm to brain development”. 

There are even more serious consequences that come from vaping and e-cigarettes. In the CDC’s article “Adult Smoking Cessation – The Use of E-Cigarettes” it’s stated that “e-cigarette aerosol can contain cancer-causing chemicals and tiny particles that reach deep into the lungs”. 
 

  When you look at the facts you find that “research suggests that using e-cigarettes containing nicotine is associated with greater smoking cessation than using e-cigarettes that don’t contain nicotine, and more frequent use of e-cigarettes is associated with greater smoking cessation than less frequent use” the argument that it’s helping is simply redundant (“Adult Smoking Cessation”).