The Stigma of Vaping: Understanding and Misunderstanding

The introduction of new technologies is often welcomed with several doubts about its use and functionality. Moreover, these reservations may also include doubts relating to the health effects of the use of that technology. This then leads to several assumptions about that technology which leads to a generalized image of the technology that goes popular with time. This image, slowly and gradually, becomes so popular that it becomes impossible to dissociate that image from the product. That image then becomes a stigma.

Also read What’s the Difference Between Smoke and Vapor?

Vaping and Stigmas:

When it comes to vaping, there are several stigmas attached to it. It might not be surprising that most of these stigmas stem from their apparent association to cigarettes. This association, in turn, might stem from the fact that the FDA (controlling authority on cigarettes) considers both vapes and cigarettes in the same way. So, when everyone came to realize that cigarettes are actually extremely harmful to human health (ironically, most of these campaigns were started by vape manufacturers) and the FDA started to demotivate smoking by introducing taxes and other measures, people automatically assumed that vapes are just as harmful.

The Stigmas:

This brings us to the first stigma about vaping, it being that vaping is just as harmful as cigarettes. This is the most common stigma attached to vapes and it could not be more wrong. Cigarettes not only have tar, which is home for several carcinogenic compounds, but it also contains several metallic compounds that are harmful to human health. Moreover, upon combustion, several other harmful compounds are produced that are harmful to not only the smoker but also to people that are near the said smoker. Vapes, on the other hand, do not contain any tar, or even tobacco, for that matter. In addition, there is no combustion in a vape, so there are no new harmful compounds produced, while the vapor itself includes only evaporated e-liquid. So, the real fact about vapes and cigarettes is that vapes are definitely not as harmful as cigarettes.

However, another stigma, in direct opposition of the previous one is that vapes are completely harmless. This, again, is far from true. Although researches in the past have dictated that vapes lead to no serious health repercussions, it must not be assumed that they lead to no repercussions at all. In fact, vapes do lead to several minor consequences that may lead to popcorn lungs or vaper’s tongue. Hence, it is imperative that precautions be taken to prevent the minor penalties.

Another one of the many stigma that has somewhat attached it to vaping is that vape devices are dangerous because they explode. This stems from a few incidents that occurred in the first few phases of the vape kit releases. Even then, the vape manufacturers were not at fault of explosions. According to investigations, the explosions happened because either the battery was of sub-par quality, or the vaper was careless enough to not give the vape device the prescribed break within the vaping sessions.

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