“The Diffusion of Vaping” By Tanner R.

Vaping and e-cigarettes have become a big problem for America’s teens. According to a recent study, about 37% of high school seniors were reported vaping in 2018, up from 28% the year before. E-cigarettes use a battery-powered device that heats a liquid to form a vapor that the user inhales. These devices heat up various flavorings, nicotine, marijuana, or other potentially harmful substances. Nicotine is very addictive. Nicotine is also the key ingredient in cigarettes that make them very addictive.

 In 1927 Joseph Robinson designed what might be the first “electronic vaporizer,” a device that he stated was for “Medicinal Compounds.” He thought the device would make it easier to inhale vapors without getting burned, however it never caught on. Another man in 1963, named Herbert Gilbert designed a smokeless cigarette, but he couldn’t find any manufacturers that would produce the product. In the 1980's, a man named Jed Rose experimented with what he called, “distilled smoke.”  Rose was also the one who invented the first nicotine patch.

Vaping originally started out as a more healthy alternative to smoking. In fact that’s what it was created for. The “e-cigarette” as we know today was invented in 2003. It was invented by a chinese smoker and pharmacist named Hon Lik. Lik at one point was smoking up to three packs of cigarettes a day. He was inspired to make this device after his father, who was also a big smoker, died of lung cancer. “I believed that if I could use vapor to simulate cigarette smoke, this could help me,” Lik said. However, Lik like many others has become a duel user of vapes and cigarettes. In many cases vaping only adds to the nicotine addiction.

A picture of Hon Lik using his own invention

Around 2006 vaping first made its first appearance in Europe. Not long after that it made its way into the U.S.  N’Joy, founded in 2007 was one of the first major e-cigarette brands in the U.S. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2016. Other companies have had no trouble attracting customers. Juul would be a great example of this. Juul had recently endured a lot of criticism for their marketing techniques, which Stanford physician Robert Jackler called “patently youth oriented.”  In 2015, Juul chose Vice magazine to launch their advertising campaign. Vice marketed itself to advertisers as the "#1 youth media compan

Juul ad in Vice Magazine 

Juuls are a very concerning new trend in America’s young adults. The e-cigarette industry is largely unregulated at the federal level. It’s very difficult to know what’s in any singe vape. Vaping also hasn’t been around for very long. There are a lot of things that we don’t know about vaping. There are many potential health problems. People that vape regularly have been called “Human guinea pigs” in anit-vaping commercials. Many experts believe that vaping (like smoking) may lead to some serious health concerns One October study from NYU suggested that e-cigarettes can turn on cancer genes and promote tumor growth, but the research has only been done in mice, so far. Do you think that e-cigarettes, and vapes are actually a good alternative to cigarettes? If so, how? If not, then explain how we can combat this new trend.

Works Cited

Brueck, Hilary. “The Wild History of Vaping, from a 1927 'Electric Vaporizer' to Today's Mysterious Lung Injury Crisis.” Insider, Insider, 15 Nov. 2019, www.insider.com/history-of-vaping-who-invented-e-cigs-2019-10.

Shmerling, Robert H. “Can Vaping Damage Your Lungs? What We Do (and Don't) Know.” Harvard Health Blog, 10 Dec. 2019, www.health.harvard.edu/blog/can-vaping-damage-your-lungs-what-we-do-and-dont-know-2019090417734.