Vaping and smoking are very harmful to you and your lungs in the long run. Vaping and using e-cigarettes have a major impact on your heart by increasing your heart rate which can cause heart attacks. Smoking affects your brain by slowing its growth and your brain’s ability to process to access and pay attention to issues. There are a total of 2,807 people that have been hospitalized amid the public health crisis and numbers continue to grow. People are being blindsided by vaping and smoking which kills dopamine, hindering a person’s ability to enjoy life and find happiness in their experiences.
Some people vape or smoke for different and various reasons. When talking to someone who is of the age of 21 legally to vape, the reason was interesting. Due to concerns over consequences, these sources have decided to contribute anonymously.
“I smoked and vaped for about 5-6 years, I was introduced [to it] by close people that were doing it but it also helped with my anxiety and depression at the time”, an anonymous source informed the West Press.
After communicating with former Lakota West students, current West student responses were different. All current students wanted to remain anonymous to avoid receiving consequences for their actions.
“I smoke and I vape…–I have been smoking since the 8th grade year. I started smoking because people said it helped with stress and chilled you out…Yes I know some of the effects”
Contrastingly, another student informed the West Press of their different experience, saying they’ve been using vapes since they were 8.
“Yes, Since I was 8… I didn’t care for a while but it does more harm than most people choose to believe… I was pressured and since I was so young I didn’t think much of it considering it was a family member telling me to inhale something, I didn’t think he was purposely getting me hooked on something bad you know? For a while it became a habit and no matter how much I’d say I could stop…If I didn’t have nic I would be irritated by the slightest things-would make me lose my mind.”
Overall there are reasons why people smoke. Although the journey there can differ, there are similarities in the variety of people who have been introduced to vaping and smoking by people who influenced them. There have been positive strides however, according to the CDC, 4.11 million high schoolers reported using tobacco or vape products in 2019, with that number now at 2.13 million students. However, the vaping crisis is a crisis unique to GenZ. It’s more likely that teens smoke more often than adults. Most teens would be drawn to vaping or smoking because of their new and unique flavors causing them to be more addicted to the substances.
