Ever since Juul pods showed up on the market in 2015, vaping has become a popular trend among Gen Z. Whether spotted in a high school bathroom or being passed around at a local frat house, if you’re a young adult, you’ve likely seen vapes before.
Vapes aren’t just popular because they are seen as “cool,” but because people think they are a healthier choice than cigarettes. But, let’s be real: just because vapes are considered a lesser evil does not make them good. Vape users are not safe from brain damage or long-term lung problems. These devices still pump nicotine into the body, permanently altering the brain, alterations young people are more susceptible to.
Despite this, these health risks do not worry most kids. In 2020, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) found that 3.02 million high school students reported actively using e-cigarettes. The problem is so bad that over 63.9 percent of high school vapers want to quit, but most are too hooked to stop. What we’re seeing isn’t harm reduction. It’s harm rebranded — wrapped in fruity flavors and sold to young people as candy air.
The vaping industry is setting up a whole generation to struggle with memory loss, trouble focusing, and lung damage. The generations before ours worked hard to stop these issues with anti-smoking programs, but now their work is being undone. If we don’t stop this trend now — while these kids are young and can still be helped — we’ll be facing widespread brain and lung conditions in just a few years.
So, what can we do? We can start by removing the “cool” factor. Teens aren’t lining up to try dry tobacco. They’re after Mango Tango, Pink Lemonade and Strawberry Kiwi. Vapes are clever. They don’t advertise themselves as the lung destroying devices that they are, but as a menu of dessert flavors to target kids. 81 percent of youth who vape say they use e-cigarettes started because of the flavors available. If we stop making vaping seem delicious, fewer kids will want a taste.
We’ve seen this strategy work in the past. According to CDC data, in 2019, Massachusetts had one of the highest youth vaping rates in the nation at 32 percent. After implementing a statewide flavor ban in 2020, that number dropped to just 16 percent by 2023. In comparison, West Virginia, which has no such ban, currently sees youth vaping rates as high as 27.5 percent, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. The contrast is clear. When you remove flavors, you remove the hook.
But policy alone is not going to cut it. Real change starts with a call to action from those in charge: parents, educators, doctors and even college students who are voting-age adults. They all must step in.
Critics argue that kids are a tough audience. What 15-year-old is known for being obedient to their parents? But voices of respected peers, including older teens, carry more weight. The “cool” factor is the key pattern here.
Kids are more likely to listen to people that they relate to or are inspired by. Parents should still advocate and have honest conversations at home. Educators can also work on prevention programs that can be implemented in schools at an early age. If it worked for cigarettes, it could work for vapes. Just think about how unpopular cigarettes are among Gen Z. By now, they’ve almost entirely lost their trending status.
This is also a space where college students can step up, not just as role models, but as active participants in peer education and community outreach. Through campus-led campaigns, social media advocacy, mentorship in schools or partnerships with public health organizations, college students can use their voice and relatability to shift the cultural perception of vaping. When younger teens see someone just a few years older calling out the dangers of flavored vapes, it hits differently.
As the older cohort of Gen Z, we owe them guidance from our experience as the “guinea pigs” of e-cigarette marketing. Many of us grew up watching the rise in popularity of vape products, and after seeing how it hooked people and how hard it is to quit once addicted, we must be part of the solution.
Flavored vaping products are more than just a public health risk. They represent a failure to protect youth from targeted addiction. Banning flavors is a necessary step, but it’s also part of a bigger push for accountability. If we want to give kids a chance to grow up without the grip of nicotine, this isn’t just a policy choice, it’s a moral one. Let’s do our part to end the flavored vape epidemic before another generation gets burned.
Anika Elahi can be reached at [email protected]
