1. Aren't vapes bad for you?
Where did you hear this? Did you read an article on some Big Tobacco site that said vape juice is full of chemicals? They’re wrong, but they want you to believe them. In reality, vape juice only has four ingredients, compared to the 4,000-plus ingredients in cigarettes. According to Gizmodo.com (and the ingredients label on any vape juice ever), vape juice contains vegetable glycerin (VG), propylene glycol (PG), food-grade flavorings and pharmaceutical-grade nicotine (some manufacturers add distilled water to thin the juice out, but it’s just water).
- Vegetable glycerin is a colorless, odorless liquid made from palm oil, soy or coconut oil. It is often used in every day pharmaceutical products, as well as baked goods, candy, fudge, dairy products, meat, pasta, cereals… the list goes on and on.
- Propylene glycol is the next ingredient, which some of you may have heard is the “main ingredient in antifreeze.” PG is in antifreeze, but there’s a reason. Ethylene glycol, a highly toxic compound, used to be the main ingredient in antifreeze until the problem arose that animals were dying after drinking from leaked puddles of antifreeze, so it was replaced with a safer alternative, propylene glycol. While it may still be a controversial ingredient, PG is a main ingredient in albuterol AKA asthma inhalers, so that should tell you something. If you still don’t want PG in your body, you can get juice that is entirely VG-based like the Velvet Cloud juice I use!
- Flavorings are always food grade (because it’s regulated), which means you’ve had many of the flavors in vape juice in your body already.
- Lastly, there is pharmaceutical-grade nicotine. You can choose your level of nicotine, anywhere from zero-36mg or more depending on the juice. Cigarettes have about 18-20mg per pack, so you can choose a level as close or far away from that as you want.
2. Aren't vapes really expensive?
Compared to cigarettes, no. You can get a fairly inexpensive starter-kit vape that comes ready-to-go for about $30. If you like that and want something a little fancier, you can make your own set up with a nice vape, a tank, two rechargeable variable voltage batteries and a battery charger, and you’ll spend about $150 total on the set up. You’ll need to change your coil about every two weeks ($3 each), and probably go through a 30ml bottle of juice a week (roughly $12 each depending on the juice), so over a year you’ll spend about $850 on your vaping pleasure. I know that may seem like a lot, but compared to cigarettes, this is a steal (and tastes WAY better). Say you smoke a $5 pack of cigarettes a day, that’s $1,825 in a year, or if you live in a more expensive area like New York where packs can be as much as $14, that’s $5,110 in a year. Which would you prefer?
3. Is second-hand "smoke" from vapes bad?
First of all, there is virtually no second-hand “smoke” from vapes because it’s literally water vapor that dissipates in the air. Second, like I said above, the main ingredients in vape juice are the same as the main ingredients in a lot of the food you eat and asthma inhalers, so there is virtually no danger if you do breathe some in. You are more likely to get health problems from second-hand smoke and air pollution in big cities than you are from vapes.
4. Can I try your vape?
I usually say yes, but only because no one gets it right on the first try and it’s funny to watch. What button do I push? How long should I do it? Should I inhale? You can do it however you want, I just want to see your reaction and giggle a little when you cough. It won’t be because it hurts or tastes bad (unless I give you an old coil—jokes on you), you’ll cough because it produces a lot more vapor compared to cigarette smoke and tastes like strawberries instead of burnt rubber. Trust me, you’ll probably like it anyway, and it gets way better.
5. If you’re trying to quit smoking, why would you replace it with more “smoke?”
This is usually one of the last questions I get asked after explaining the rest of the questions above, and the first thing I say is it’s NOT SMOKE. Next, I explain that I wasn’t a smoker before, I just like vapes (please don’t judge me—it’s my life) but the best answer I can give is that it’s the similar hand-to-mouth motion that keeps people from going back to cigarettes. I’ve seen people try the gum, patches, and even medication like Chantix that turns them into scary versions of themselves, and when none of those work, they try a vape and never go back. They don’t have to change their entire daily routine and can still go out for “smoke breaks” with their vape. They still get their nicotine fix when they need it, and a lot of people lower their mg level gradually until they’re at zero. The reality is that, to a lot of people, it’s a safer, more enjoyable alternative to smoking, and until you completely understand how it works, please stop shaming those who choose to vape!
