Roughly 1 out of every 20 people vape or use e-cigarettes. As traditional smoking’s customers go down and “digital smoking’s” customers go up, a lot of questions are arising around this relatively new means of inhaling.
Is vaping safe? What does it do to your health? Does it have any advantages over traditional tobacco?
In order to better understand all of the implications around these questions, we thought it would be a good idea to quickly outline the pros and cons of vaping.
Here’s what you need to know…
The Pros of Vaping
While many health enthusiasts would like you to believe that there are no benefits to vaping, depending on your perspective, there are. After all, why would so many people vape if doing so didn’t add any value to their lives?
Below, we take a look at the bright side of vaping.
1. eJuice Is Considered Safer Than Tobacco
While inhaling eJuice is far from healthy, it is considered far healthier than the compounds that traditional cigarettes sport.
Many cigarette mixtures include tar, carbon monoxide, arsenic, ammonia and more.
eJuice compounds vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but are almost never formulated from compounds so deadly as that.
2. Vaping Can Be a Step in the Right Direction
Vaping acting as a “gateway” is often cited as one of the cons of vaping. That all depends on which way you’re stepping, though.
Sure, many people get into vaping and then transition to more harmful cigarettes. On the other hand, many people that are having trouble discontinuing smoking use vaping as a stepping stone towards complete sobriety.
In our opinion, that’s a big-time benefit that’s worth celebrating!
3. More Socialization Opportunities
There’s no denying the fact that vaping has a culture built around it.
There are vape stores where people congregate to discuss their hobby. There are conventions where people meet up with one another, shop and have a great time.
In many ways, the community that exists in the world of vaping and the opportunities it presents for socialization is one of vaping’s biggest benefits.
Not to mention that making friends and socializing can have a profound positive impact on your health.
4. Getting Started Is Cheap and Fun
Vaping has all sorts of fun mods and accessories that you can leverage to enhance your experience. As a matter of fact, there are so many options out there when you’re buying stuff that making the right choice can get pretty difficult.
No matter what your vape setup ends up looking like, you can be sure that you’ll be able to get quality merchandise for a low price.
This comes in stark contrast to traditional smoking where buying anything affiliated with the activity is taxed so heavily that it becomes severely burdensome.
The Cons of Vaping
Now that we’ve touched on some of the pros of vaping, let’s briefly discuss a few of vaping’s cons.
1. Dry Mouth
When you vape, the liquid that you’re inhaling is steamed into water vapor. Pursuant to that fact, you might suspect that your palette would be left feeling refreshed after taking a drag.
That’s not the case.
Some of the components that are present in eJuice still create a reaction in your mouth that makes it feel chalky or dry.
If you can’t stand that feeling, vaping might not be right for you.
Inhaling smoke can make you feel “heady” at best and downright dizzy at worst. There’s no great way to avoid that reaction other than to abstain from the activity.
If you do find yourself extra-prone to dizziness while vaping, avoid vaping while driving and also take pauses during smoke sessions to not exacerbate your symptoms.
3. Increased Cancer Risk
There’s a pervasive theory going around in many vaping communities that vaping does not cause cancer. Most qualified medical professionals would disagree with that assertion.
Vape liquids contain nicotine, propylene glycol, dyes, and other enhancers. These chemicals getting soaked into your lungs over prolonged periods absolutely have the ability to bring about cancerous growths.
Moderation is important in order to reduce your risk of serious illnesses like cancer while vaping. Abstaining is best.
4. Public Stigma
Whether you’re vaping or smoking, people generally won’t be happy to see you doing what you’re doing out in the community.
The dangers of second-hand smoke are real. Because of that, vapers that are subjecting others to negative health effects are generally seen as unsavory.
Ensure that when you’re vaping, you’re doing so in designated areas or at the very least, away from others.
5. New Tech = Unknown Consequences
Vaping is a relatively new activity. As scientific studies try to learn more about what its long-term effects will be, time is still required to come to a variety of conclusions.
That reality should scare you since, 20 years from now, you may end up with more serious vaping consequences than today’s doctor’s were able to anticipate.
Wrapping Up Pros and Cons of Vaping
There are numerous pros and cons of vaping that are worth being aware of before you take up the hobby. From a medical perspective, the damage vaping causes far outweighs the positive health benefits that it provides in the way of increased socialization and purpose.
If you do vape, as we mentioned previously, do so in moderation.