9781422272336

1 CHAPTER

The Popularity of Vaping

At one time, cigarette smoking was a popular, although unhealthy, activity among teenagers around the world. Today, however, teens have been taught about the health risks of cigarettes and the rate of teen smoking has dropped sharply. Now, young people are much more likely to try using electronic nicotine vaporizing devices, which have been promoted as being a healthier alternative to cigarettes. Vaping , as the use of these devices is called, can affect a person’s health in both the short term and the long term, so it is important that young people fully understand the potential dangers of vaping. Wildly Popular Though many smoking-cessation products—including patches and gums with nicotine—have been developed over the years as ways to help cigarette smokers quit, few have become as immediately popular as vaping. A study by the World Health Organization found that the number of vapers expanded by almost five times between 2011 and 2016, meaning that every year millions of new users were trying vaping devices. In 2011, around 7 million people used electronic vapor products around the world—not a huge number but not minor either. However, by 2016, the number of vapers had increased to 35 million.

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