What is Vaping?
Vaping is the act of inhaling and exhaling aerosol or vapor produced by a vape device.
Vape devices, known as e-cigs, e-hookahs, mods, vape pens, vapes, tank systems and Juuls, contain 4 basic components: a cartridge or a tank to hold e-liquid (or e-juice/vape sauce), a heating element known as an atomizer, a battery and a mouthpiece to inhale.
What do Vape Devices Look Like?
Some vape devices look like regular cigarettes, cigars or pipes while others resemble USB thumb drives and other everyday objects. Some devices can be thrown away, while others can be reused by charging the device and replacing the e-liquid, either by filling the chamber or using a self-contained pod.
What is Being Vaped?
Although many substances can be vaped, 3 are most common: flavored e-liquids, flavored e-liquids with nicotine and marijuana. The e-liquids come in small bottles or in pre-filled pods or cartridges. Pods are the component that contain the e-liquid.
•Flavored e-liquids come in thousands of flavors, including bubble gum, cotton candy and grape, but also hot dog, banana bread and king crab legs.
•Flavored e-liquids may also contain different levels of nicotine, ranging from 2 milligrams per milliliter (mg/ml) to 59 milligrams per milliliter. One of the more popular vape devices, Juul (pronounced jewel), contains 59 mg/ml of nicotine in each pod. A Juul pod is equal to 1 pack of cigarettes in terms of nicotine.
•Marijuana can be vaped in either the leaf form or using THC and/or CBD oil. THC is the psychoactive compound in marijuana that creates a sense of being high.
Is Vaping Safe?
The short answer is no. Vaping is especially dangerous for teens and young adults as their brains are still developing. As vaping is a relatively new phenomenon, long-term studies that examine its impact on teen and young adult health and behavior have yet to be concluded.
Thousands of e-cigarette and vaping cases have already been reported to the CDC in the United States with dozens of deaths confirmed as well.
Source: Adapted from Cdc.gov.