It is well known that nicotine and smoking have had detrimental health effects for many Americans for years. However, the industry’s targeting of young adults and children, which has occurred over the past decade, has become one of the major health issues for that age category.  

 As teens and young people have become more overwhelmed with social media, school and the job market, it is understandable how stress releases like nicotine would become more common. The turn to nicotine is growing around the world and is a direct result of the convenience and packaging the industry has created. 

Nicotine in the form of vapes is more dangerous because it is almost untraceable. Cigarette smoke is incredibly pungent and it’s very clear when somebody is addicted. However, it is almost impossible to smell vape smoke after a few seconds. 

The industry is targeting young people and even children. The advent of flavors that resemble candy is one of the main reasons. Tobacco is considered disgusting to most young people, but if you’re able to create a nicotine substitute that doesn’t taste like that, it is much more likely that people are going to want to buy it. 

Though there have been many attempts to ban these nicotine products, there always seems to be a new one to replace an old brand every year. 

I remember Juul as a middle schooler and seeing some kids my age start to smoke. In San Francisco, those were banned, but then Puff Bars replaced them when I entered high school. Soon after, many different brands including Flume and most recently Elf Bars have become the most prominent.

The progression of their packaging has evolved to be more and more appealing to children. Juul had a very simplistic monotone color palette. However, Elf Bars are bright and colorful, almost mimicking candy. This has drawn in younger and younger consumers who are most likely to purchase these flavors.

As a college student, I can understand how the stress of school, a job and extracurriculars can have a large toll on a person and finding something simple to relieve that stress can be tempting. However, the tactics the tobacco and nicotine industry are using to get younger and younger people addicted to nicotine is truly worrying. 

The almost undetectable smell and the convenience of these products is what makes them the most concerning. Anyone can pull out a vape in the blink of an eye and its smell is gone in seconds.

There’s also a much higher concentration of nicotine in one bar as compared to a pack of cigarettes. One Elf Bar has 20 or 50 mg of nicotine depending on size as compared to a pack of cigarettes that has 20 to 30 mg in total. Since it is much more easily accessible to smoke an Elf Bar constantly, it is unsurprising that this would lead to more nicotine consumption of people who use vapes as compared to cigarette smokers.

With the world changing as fast as it is and the constant rating of information that we receive daily, not giving in to habits that can have detrimental effects on our health is key. We don’t know exactly how vape smoke will affect our lungs but inhaling and being addicted to anything will not end well.

The tobacco industry needs to take the young consumer out of their marketing and product.