Teens Against Vaping (TAV) by Hunter

Teens Against Vaping (TAV) by Hunter - September 2019 Scholarship Essay

Vaping is a very broad topic in today's society, lots of teens and or young adults are vaping and it can cause many bad side effects down the road, after all, studies show that after many years of people smoking, five larger retrospective studies were published in the early 1950’s that showed a link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. If this is the case, we do not know what vaping can cause down the road.

Studies show that 17.6% of 8th graders, 32.3% 10th graders and 37.3% of 12th graders have used vaping devices in the past year or so, this is a big problem. In vaping, a battery-powered device called an e-cigarette heats a certain liquid into a vapor that can be inhaled, the juice may contain nicotine, unknown flavoring and other harsh chemicals. E-cigarettes or vapes can also be used with marijuana, hash oil, and other substances. Vaping pose serious and avoidable health risks, exposure as a young teen can later lead to addiction and cause long-term harm to brain development.

“Teens are clearly attracted to the marketable technology and flavorings seen in vaping devices”, explains Dr. Nora D. Volkow director of NIH’s national institute on drug abuse. Many e-cigarette companies use seducing strategies like using fruity flavors and fun candy flavors so it can look appealing to the youth, this is a big problem and one of the reasons I would want to start Teens against vaping (TAV). With TAV, We can inform kids of the harmful chemicals they are putting in their bodies, and ways to cope with quitting because quitting can be very hard once you are addicted. With this club, we can help the youth around us and hopefully make a change on adolescent vaping.