6 Vaping Facts You Need to Know

Updated on August 31, 2021

Vaping is a fairly new phenomenon, but it’s gaining popularity quickly. It has become an increasingly popular alternative to smoking cigarettes and vaping pens are even available in convenience stores. 

According to new laws passed in 2020, the minimum age for buying and using vape products in the US is 21 years old.

E-cigarettes have been around since 2007 and continue to evolve, with previous designs mimicking regular cigarettes, cigars, pens, or USB flash drives. The newest devices are slim high-tech designs and are easily disposable or rechargeable. There are many vape shops popping up all over, and vape flavors are becoming more and more diverse.

In this blog post, we will outline the 6 most important vaping facts that everyone needs to know!

1) Key Facts – Vaping and the Device

First off, let’s quickly go over what vaping and the devices are.

Vaping is the act of inhaling and exhaling an aerosol produced by vaping devices. These vaping devices are typically made up of a mouthpiece, a battery, an atomizer or heating element which vaporizes the vape juice into vapour, vape juice (e-liquid) in a tank, or dry herbs that can produce vapour which mimics the feeling of smoking without many of the negative effects on health. The Vape Pen or Vaporizer can have many different styles, looks and designs.

The vape juices are typically flavored blends of propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and food-grade flavorings. 

2) Vaping Produce Aerosol – Not Smoke

Vaping is not smoking. Vaping is the heating of e-liquid to create an aerosol or “vapor” that contains nicotine, flavorings and other chemicals which are tiny particles that dissolve into the air quickly and don’t produce smoke.

A vaporizer heats the vaping liquid, which then creates a water steam. The smoke created by vaping comes from an oven that’s heated to as high as 450 degrees Fahrenheit and then fed into a coil, where it turns liquid before being drawn up into the mouthpiece as vapors for inhalation. This process creates a vapor that looks like smoke from a cigarette but without any burning or ash involved.

The liquid in an electronic cigarette when vaped turns into particles suspended in air that quickly dissolve. Because the particles are liquid, unlike the solid particles in cigarette smoke, they don’t pose the same risks to the lungs and cardiovascular system.

This is what people inhale and exhale when vaping.

3) E-cigarettes Are Not as Harmful as Cigarettes 

This is the most important vaping fact to know. One study found that vaping was 95% less harmful than smoking cigarettes!  

E-cigarettes heat tobacco, flavorings and chemicals to produce an aerosol that you inhale. Regular tobacco cigarettes contain a lot of toxic chemicals, like tar, over 7,000 of them to be exact. However, vaping is still not healthy or does no harm. The long-term effects still need to be studied, as it is a fairly new product compared to cigarettes, which have been smoked for over 100 years now. Vaping has fewer chemicals and fewer side-products than cigarettes.

What’s important is to use the devices correctly, and not to modify it and buy them on the black market. This can cause harm and experts strictly advise against it.

4) Vaping Can Help Quit Smoking

Vaporizers are a great alternative for people who want to quit smoking or use less nicotine. 7 out of 10 smokers state that they want to quit smoking and vaping can help with that or become a less harmful substitute. They are also a substitute for those who need to smoke in places where the smoke would annoy others. The benefits of vaping are the reduction in harm to health, less smell and odor, lower cost and fewer toxins.

Research shows vaping is effective at quitting smoking or using less cigarettes per day. People are more likely to be successful if they used e-cigarettes instead of nicotine replacement therapy methods like patches and gum. Trying a less harmful behavior as an alternative for a high-risk behavior can be beneficial, and it is particularly effective if the behaviors are more difficult to engage in (e.g., methadone for heroin). Vaping can be an alternative to tobacco products.

5) Vaporizers Are More Effective at Managing Nicotine Cravings

It actually reduces cravings by releasing dopamine into the body as well as cannabinoids that aid with focus and moods without producing carbon monoxide (the main cause of secondhand smoke). The amount of nicotine in a vape can be managed better than with cigarettes. For some people, the act of smoking is the habit they want or have to hang onto and with vaping, they can with less harm.

6) Vaping Will Not Cause Secondhand Smoke

A major contributor to the estimated 14.000 deaths per year in the US from secondhand smoke are cigarettes. Vaping produces water vapor that dissipates quickly after exhaling instead of smoke like cigarettes do. So it does not harm people around you. Another positive side-effect is that E-cigarette smokers do not bother others with smelly cigarette smoke.

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