Is Vaping a Trend or a Permanent Alternative?

Since its entry to US markets in the year 2007, the vaping industry has rapidly grown in value. When it first kicked off, the appeal was that e-cigarettes were a safer alternative to cigarettes, where they remained in scattered shops and were produced by small manufacturers. Now, according to Wells Fargo, the vaping industry is expected to reach $10 billion in sales by the end of this year. Instead of finding them in only a few stores, you’ll now find a vape shop or lounge on nearly every major city block. It’s grown like wildfire and has taken over the masses.

Recently, the FDA has been cracking down on the industry and has presented a regulation requiring that all e-liquid must be removed from shelves and approved by the FDA in order to be sold. This has led people to doubt the permanent stamp the industry has on the market.

Still, the question remains: Is vaping just another trend? Or could it possibly be the permanent alternative to cigarettes for the 21st century?

Based on various studies, while not conclusive, vaping is seeming more and more safe than cigarettes everyday. This, again, still remains a relative claim. There’s no conclusive proof that vaping is harmful and there is no conclusive proof that it’s just as safe as clean air. After all, if it weren’t for vaping, vapers would still be smoking. It’s really isn’t as safe as breathing, but it sure is a much safer alternative to smoking.

This has led to the opening of vape shops all over the country, more than 3,500 and growing nationwide. If you follow market trends, the industry is thriving and turning over huge profits. Some touted benefits include suggestions that vaping has created thousands of jobs, saves tax money on healthcare, generates large amounts of tax revenue, and prevents black markets. As long as smokers want to kick their habit, vaping will remain and continue to help the economy thrive.

Vaping products are also readily available for purchase. Even if you don’t have a local vape shop nearby, buying devices, juice, mods, etc. are just a click away online. Plus, online shops also allow for a safe and convenient way of browsing.

Vaping products can be much cheaper than cigarettes in the long run, and thousands of people have said that vaping has helped them quit cigarettes and nicotine altogether. The word vape has also been permanently introduced to the English language and Oxford dictionary has chosen “vape” as 2014’s word of the year.

Besides these factors, the sole reason why vaping isn’t going anywhere is its health benefits. Smoking cigarettes harms nearly all organs, leads to various diseases, and reduces your life expectancy dramatically. Leading the charts as the number one preventable death in the United States and killing 480,000 each year, cigarettes kill more people than alcohol use, illegal drug use, and motor vehicle accidents combined.

E-cigarette vapor isn’t smoke. There’s no current evidence that suggests that inhaling a mixture of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin causes any kind of long-term lung damage. However, inhaling some flavorings have been reported as a link to the development of bronchiolitis obliterans, or popcorn lung. The chemicals-diacetyl and acetyl propionyl may be responsible for some cases of popcorn lung at a few flavoring factories, where workers inhaled large quantities of the substances in powdered form over two years.

This may be frightening, but there haven’t been any diagnosed cases due to vaping since its introduction ten years ago.

The vaping market isn’t just some 21st century social media fad like “planking” and “Gagnam Style” that most of us will eventually just forget. The industry is rapidly growing every day and all evidence suggests that it’s here to stay. If you’re not one of the millions of people who have switched from cigarettes to vaping, consider making the switch today. Your body, as well as everyone around you, will thank you for it.