Vaper Rave: What’s the fuss about e-Cigarettes?

By Nicky Detain and Lusiana Avalos

Photos by Nicky Detain

According to Action on Smoking and Health, over 20% of children in the UK have tried vaping in 2023. This figure is up from 15.8% last year.

Meanwhile, concerns are mounting about what vaping is doing to children’s health, with the Scottish government launching a campaign warning parents about the potential danger posed to children by electronic cigarettes.

On the other hand, Hull Royal Infirmary has recently begun a “swap and stop” initiative, handing out free vapes in an effort to encourage visitors to quit smoking.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the USA says that 99 percent of all vapes contain nicotine. “Using nicotine in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control,” it said.

“Each time a new memory is created or a new skill is learned, stronger connections – or synapses – are built between brain cells. Young people’s brains build synapses faster than adult brains. Nicotine changes the way these synapses are formed.”

The CDC added that vaping can be a gateway to harder drugs as well.

For Holloway locals, the increase in popularity of vaping has become more than apparent.

“I’ve been smoking for 20 years. I tried to give up a couple of times but when I swapped to vaping, it worked. It’s better than smoking,” said Nathalie Chapple, 44, a student at London Metropolitan University.

Local shops in the area also report the increased sales of vapes.

Ram, 42, an employee at Smartshop, a store near Holloway Road Tube Station, who did not want to give his surname, said that most of Smartshop’s revenue now comes from the sale of vapes.

“It’s a university of education, or is it a university of vaping? They don’t want to buy pens or pencils anymore; they’ll buy a vape instead of a calculator.”