To Vape Or Not To Vape?
Vaping has been in the news a lot lately. Across the US, hundreds of people have been hospitalized for lung injuries caused by vaping. Nine have died from those injuries. The spate of sickness has come on so suddenly that federal and state governments are left scrambling to figure out what to do. In response, Massachusetts has moved to ban all e-cigarette sales for four months, and several other states are considering similar action. With all this going on, it seemed the right time for me to weigh in on vaping.
The Diet Coke Of Smoking
For the sake of completeness, let’s define what vaping is. An “e-cigarette” or “vape pen” is used to heat a liquid solution that is then inhaled. The e-liquids found in vape cartridges are designed to look like smoke when heated, so you still get the “cool” factor of smoking. Most e-liquids carry nicotine, THC, CBD, some combination of these, or none of the above. Most vape cartridges are flavored, as well.
Vaping is commonly seen as being safer than cigarettes, which is one reason why it has become so popular in recent years. It’s essentially the Diet Coke of smoking. While many of the harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke are absent from vape mist, that doesn’t necessarily make it safe. There’s still a lot of particulate matter inhaled into the lungs, and a suite of different chemicals that may…
