TikTok trend exposes the dark side of vaping
Chest pains. Ventilators. Collapsed lungs. Life support. Young people are warning each other about the dangerous and painful effects of vaping by doing what they do best – sharing their personal stories on TikTok.
One 23-year-old TikToker went viral in July 2022 after posting a video about her painful experience from lung surgery after her lung collapsed. Vaping contributed to her health problems which left her hospitalized and using inhalers for weeks post-surgery.
Social media is filled with examples of young people exposing the damage that vaping has done to their bodies. Many are sharing photos and videos from hospital beds, speaking up about the scary health crises they’ve faced from using vapes, and pledging to kick the habit for good.
The tobacco industry aggressively advertises vape products to kids on social media knowing that young people are more susceptible to addiction.12 Their plan? Get the next generation addicted to vapes because new customers mean more opportunities to try other tobacco products.34 Teens who vape are three times more likely to become daily cigarette smokers.5
Tobacco industry organization front groups, like PMI-funded Global Action to End Smoking (formerly called Foundation for a Smokefree World),6 have worked hard on slick PR campaigns to convince people that their vaping products are less harmful than cigarettes.7 The result: a tobacco industry-created youth vaping epidemic.89 Marketing these products as less harmful has already lured far too many young people into a lifetime of addiction and disease.1011
The tobacco industry tricks young people into thinking that vaping is “safer” than smoking, but it only takes some scrolling on social media to see firsthand the damage vaping can cause.8 Young people are fighting against the tobacco industry’s manipulation and deceit by exposing the truth about vaping and reaching an audience of millions.
One young woman, who used vapes for more than four years, went viral with a video viewed 29 million times about being hospitalized for two weeks and ending up on life support.
“When I woke up from the surgery I asked the nurse if this is what death is… it was one of the most horrific pains I have ever experienced.” – @gracejohanna
Vapes have been engineered by the tobacco industry to maximize addictiveness by delivering a highly concentrated form of nicotine – a chemical that is as addictive as heroin.1213 Vaping is so addictive that young users start using more and more – resulting in serious damage to the brain and body.14
But nicotine isn’t the only danger. Vapes contain toxic chemicals with health risks we are only beginning to understand. Vape use has been linked to an increased risk of stroke and serious chronic illnesses, like COPD, heart attacks, and heart disease, and may increase the risk of lung cancer.1516171819202122232425 Vaping is known to increase the risk of heart damage, cause lung inflammation, and induce nausea.232627 Chemicals found in e-liquid may impair the heart’s ability to pump blood and are linked to a dangerous respiratory disease known as popcorn lung.2829
This is the moment to break the cycle of addiction. In 2022, Californians overwhelmingly voted to uphold a law ending the sale of most flavored tobacco products, including vapes, in retail stores, making it much harder for Big Tobacco to target and entice young people to use their deadly products.30 Flavored vapes are still available for sale online in California. Click here to learn more about the law.
There is nothing good about nicotine. Click here for quit support for yourself or to help a young person quit vapes and other tobacco products.
“When flavored air put you in the hospital for 2 weeks and life support for 4 days.” – @chocolatecandle26
