So there I was stuck at a stop light when I saw a huge plume of “smoke” erupt from a cracked Toyota Celica window, but I didn’t smell the vulgar smell of second-hand smoke. I smelled the warming aroma of cinnamon. I knew something was strange. I had seen the vast amounts of late night television ads for these E-Cigarettes, but I had not anticipated for them to be this mainstream.

Some may see vaping as a way to stop smoking, but it has gone in the opposite direction. People who have never smoked before have been introduced to Vaping which in the end makes them more susceptible to more intense and illegal drugs. Middle school students, as well as high schoolers, have become the target of this “mild” habit. Many people, when asked why they vape, simply say that it is because it is simply something to do without real consequences, but the consequences for vaping are much more extreme than people think. Vape has turned into the new gateway drug.

Vaping even a year ago was seen as the trashier brother of the already trashy smoking, but the irony around vaping has gotten to such an extreme that it has become cool. The it-crowd has adapted this strange habit in a way that is nearly untraceable. For Vape doesn’t have a bad smell and can be easy to obtain for those under the legal age of purchasing. This makes angsty teens and experimental tweens ready to jump into the pit of addiction.

Parents don’t feel as threatened by electronic cigarettes primarily because they don’t understand it and don’t think it’s that bad. Vape, although not bad (technically) for your lungs, is bad in turn for your life. Starting the downhill decline into drug abuse.

Some might argue that this is not true, however, anything, if used too frequently, can become a vice. This addictive trait that people obtain from this habit can be taken into other mediums. Much more addictive life-threatening mediums.