Harold Jones on Vaping/Tobacco Use

"Vaping", like smoking, is a form of inhaling nicotine. It's what you do with e-cigarettes also known as vapes, e-hookah, vape pens, and mods. They are Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems. The battery-powered cylinders deliver nicotine, flavorings, and other additives to the user via an inhaled aerosol. Nicotine is a stimulate, it's highly addictive, causes changes in brain chemistry, and is most commonly found in tobacco products. Nicotine makes it hard to quit. The cycle of nicotine addiction starts with bringing nicotine into the body. Then, nicotine enters the brain and targets the pleasure centers of the brain. After, the level of nicotine in the body drops quickly. This drop in nicotine levels causes the body to have a strong craving for nicotine that is satisfied by bringing more nicotine into the body. Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm adolescent brain development. Nicotine use in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that controls attention, learning, mood, and impulse control. Nicotine also stimulates the central nervous system and raises blood pressure, respiration, and heart rate. While much of the concern about e-cigarettes has been about nicotine, the flavor cartridges often contain diacetyl, a chemical known to cause severe lung damages when inhaled. Diacetyl destroys the lung's tiniest airways, leading to scar tissue buildup which blocks airflow, its damage is ultimately irreversible. On average, children are exposed to more secondhand and smoke than nonsmoking adults. Two out of every five children ages three to eleven are exposed to secondhand smoke in the United States. U.S. Surgeon General Statements on Children and Secondhand Smoke "Secondhand smokes contains chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic (cancer causing), including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances and poisons as smokers". Alabama passed a bill to ban smoking in the car with minors.