Someone told me those gray plumes occasionally seen belching from car windows dissipate quickly enough to disguise whatever is being vaped. Perhaps. But the other day I walked past a parked car releasing a massive cloud, and it smelled like a Led Zeppelin concert.
As a former cigarette smoker who attended his share of rock concerts, I’m hardly qualified to lecture from a mountaintop. Still, I don’t think human lungs were designed to be fog machines.
Human ingenuity gave us antibiotics, space travel and a rechargeable device that lets people inhale dessert while standing beside a dumpster.
Welcome to vaping: chemistry with a charging cable.
The cloud may smell like mango or vanilla, but calling it “water vapor” is fiction. Vapes produce an aerosol—tiny particles and droplets suspended in gas. Depending on the product, it can contain nicotine, cancer-causing chemicals, volatile organic compounds and metals such as nickel, tin and lead.
Your lungs ordered oxygen. You served them a hardware-store sampler.
People vape everything from legally sold nicotine to cannabis concentrates and illegal synthetic drugs. The device is a delivery system. Judging its contents by its sleek exterior makes about as much sense as judging a restaurant’s sanitation by its menu.
Nicotine is the familiar passenger. It is addictive, and nicotine vaping products can legally be sold in the United States when applicable requirements are met. Federal law prohibits retailers from selling them to anyone under 21; FDA marketing requirements also apply. Apparently, “the cashier said it was fine” is not a regulatory agency.
Cannabis oils and concentrates, including products containing THC—the principal intoxicating ingredient in cannabis—are also vaped. Concentrates can deliver high levels of THC and may carry a greater risk of cannabis use disorder. Legality depends on jurisdiction and local rules. New York, for example, permits adult cannabis use beginning at 21 but prohibits unlicensed sales. A legal dispensary and somebody selling cartridges out of a gym bag are not interchangeable institutions.
CBD and delta-8 THC also appear in vaping products. CBD does not produce the characteristic THC high; delta-8 can intoxicate. Neither “hemp” nor “CBD” on a label establishes that a product is lawful or safe to inhale. FDA warns that concentrated delta-8 is commonly manufactured from CBD and that manufacturing can introduce potentially harmful contaminants.
“Plant-derived” is a description of ancestry, not a character reference.
Then there are synthetic cannabinoids, associated with names such as K2 and Spice. These drugs can be mixed into liquids and vaped; many are illegal. They are not simply marijuana wearing a laboratory coat. Reported effects include vomiting, hallucinations, seizures, unconsciousness and death. A cute stylish vaping device does not make the chemical inside safe.
For a graphic reminder of what can go wrong, consider the 2019–2020 outbreak of vaping-associated lung injury, called EVALI. By February 18, 2020, CDC had recorded 2,807 hospitalized cases or deaths, including 68 confirmed deaths. Most cases involved THC-containing products, particularly those from informal sources. Vitamin E acetate, an additive in some products, was strongly linked to the outbreak.
These were people coughing, vomiting and struggling for breath—some needing intensive care and mechanical ventilation. Picture a tube down your throat and a machine taking over the breathing you previously did without thinking. That is a considerable downgrade from “strawberry ice.”
The outbreak does not establish that every vape carries the same risk. It simply demonstrates why the contents matter enormously.
So, what is the average age of a vaper?
Just about anyone of any age who can breathe can vape, but in the CDC’s 2023 adult survey, ages 21–24 had the highest rate of e-cigarette use, at 15.5%. That is the adult age group most likely to vape—not the average age of all vapers. Teenagers and older adults also vape, so statistics should not be shoved into the wrong cartridge.
One distinction matters: vaping generally exposes users to fewer harmful chemicals than smoking cigarettes. Adults who are heavy cigarette smokers may derive a modest benefit from vaping their nicotine - but it should be noted that switching does not make vaping harmless. And continuing to smoke while vaping does not provide the same benefit.
The sensible message needs neither scary fiction nor a marketing department. It is common sense to know what substance is vaped, and to understand that legality does not equal safety.
Our lungs perform a remarkable service around the clock, and that’s a breath of fresh air.