The unforgettable hiss of nicotine fluid disintegrating into pure white vapor. The noticeable heat emanating from the plastic. The lingering aroma long after the smoke has been exhaled.
Vaping is well known to all Brookdale students –though some much more intimate experience than others. But what exactly draws someone into the habit? What keeps them away?
“It’s the unknown that really scares me,” said nursing student Ryan Kirkpatrick, 26, of Bradley Beach. “I know it causes popcorn lung.”
Popcorn lung—the most infamous side effect of vaping — is a chronic respiratory condition that affects breathing. The “unknown” Kirkpatrick refers to is the numerous undocumented risks associated with vaping experts have yet to uncover.
“I didn’t want any of the harmful effects, just the health consequences is what scared me away from vaping,” said Ken Salazar, an 18-year-old Ocean Township respiratory therapy major, sharing in Kirkpatrick’s sentiment. “If I were to get addicted to it, I think it would interfere with my day to day.”
Students by and large cite fear of medical repercussions later in life for why they don’t vape. But what about the students who do?
Erik Silva, a 25-year-old environmental science major from Ocean, started smoking cigarettes. “When I was 15, I got a Juul, because that’s when they were [popular]. Ever since then, I’ve been vaping.”
Silva picked up the habit during the small window of time e-cigarettes were marketed as a healthy alternative to traditional ones. He started vaping as a means of quitting smoking. “I don’t like the smell of cigarettes. It’s just better to smell like mangos or mint,” he added.
“I took my first puff of a Juul the second to last day of eighth grade in the bathroom with two of the ‘bad girls’,” said 21-year-old writing major, Grace Calcagno, of Matawan.
It would then appear that those who vape picked up the habit when they were very young, when there wasn’t as much available information on it’s ramifications.
“When you’re doing it you don’t know what you’re doing [to your body],” said Silva. “I remember the last time I went swimming, I had a hard time holding my breath… It is messing up my lung capacity.”
Despite now knowing the risks, both Silva and Calcagno answered “No,” when asked if they had any plans of stopping.
Asked if she thinks she’s addicted, Calcagno didn’t hesitate. “Horrifically—horrifically! Horrifically, terribly.”
