This one’s personal. My grandmother smoked for years, and it’s part of why she got pancreatic cancer. So when people my age act like vaping is no big deal, it doesn’t really land for me.
The CDC reported that in 2024, about 1.63 million middle and high school students vaped. That made e-cigarettes the most used tobacco product among teens, and around 88% of high schoolers who vape use flavored ones. At the peak back in 2019, over 5 million teens were vaping. The flavors and the sleek designs aren’t an accident, they’re marketing aimed straight at us.
Here’s the thing. Vaping gets sold as the clean, cool, “it’s just water vapor” version of smoking. But it’s still nicotine, which is one of the most addictive things out there, and the long-term effects on developing lungs and brains are still being figured out.
I’m not trying to lecture anyone. I just watched what tobacco did to my family, and that’s a harder thing to forget than any warning label.
(Heads up: this post talks about my grandmother’s illness, which is a heavy topic for me.)
Bottom line: Vaping is smoking with a better disguise, and the addiction underneath is the same.
Read more: E-cigarette use among youth – CDC
The Global Pulse 