Hundreds of teens use vapes daily. Whether it's a Nord, Bmor, Fog, or a Cali, teenagers love the flavours and the looks of vapes. Once hooked, it can be hard to stop. As stated in the documentary "Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul" on Netflix - once companies have consumers, they have buyers for life. In the documentary, studies say that 81% of kids started their tobacco use with flavoured e-cigarette (vape) products. It also used information from the 2018 National Youth Tobacco survey. The survey stated that between 2016-2018, there was an 80% increase in the use of e-cigarettes for high schoolers, and a 50-60% increase for middle schoolers per year. Juul vaporizers were made to help stop the one billion adult smokers in the U.S. stop smoking, but children (who don't know any better) started mis-using the product. The dilemma is still an issue five years later (2023)

Like any other harmful product, buying vapes is easily accessible. There are dealers in schools, family members, and even the online sites will sell to you. If you go online, I guarantee all you have to do to verify your age is click the "over 19/21" button. Still won't let you buy? Creating a fake email is easy enough. Acquiring fake ID's is also easily accessible - there is no real way to verify someone's age. 

Although vaping is the most popular drug among teenagers, smoking weed (or marijuana), and drinking alcohol are both equally common. 

Are we really willing to let nicotine continue to interfere with brain development? Are we really willing to let CHILDREN continue to harm themselves, and their lung health? Minors as young as 12 (see bbc article: Never start vaping, says 12-year-old girl with lung damage) are suffering from lung damage. How would you feel, knowing your child, grandchild, niece, nephew, son or daughter might never be able to run again because their lungs don't have the capacity to give them oxygen? Might never be able to dance, or swim? Vaping interferes with minors ability to do the things they love.

The longer we continue to look the other way, the more children suffer, and end up with life long health issues. The longer we continue to say "it's ok, they'll get over it" or "well it's the only coping mechanism they have", the longer we let more children become drug dependant. It is unfair to let children make such big life decisions for themselves when they don't have the capacity to. When does the part of your brain that makes informed decisions fully develop? At age 25. Some users are 13 years away from being able to make decisions properly. And nicotine interferes with brain development, making the dilemma even worse.

Vaping interferes with the development of the teenage brain, as nicotine interferes with neurological pathways and creates negative reinforcements in the dopamine centre of your brain. The dopamine centre is located in your prefrontal cortex, which as stated before, is not fully developed until age 25. Nicotine in the dopamine pathways slows brain development and lowers attention span.

I urge you to help stop this health crisis. Help children continue to live without limitations. Drug dependancy and lung harm are preventable - for minors, solving this issue means banning flavoured vapes in B.C.