Vaping would seem to be a reasonable alternative to cigarette smoking and, potentially, less dangerous than tobacco products. However, recent research raises questions about this belief and the risk it poses to the health of college students, in particular.
The addictive properties of nicotine are well-documented. The inhaled nicotine while vaping has the potential to disrupt the normal functioning of multiple brain regions. Because of this, nicotine may become more appealing as the brain craves this substance in increasing quantities.
Nicotine impacts the following brain functions:
- Reward processes are an integral part of the brain’s mechanisms for motivation. These systems direct actions to maximize good results and minimize bad ones. But is that always the way things go?
- Executive function is essential for controlling one’s ideas, deeds, and emotions, and vaping may be involved here, too.
When nicotine enters the brain, it mimics the effects of other forms of reward, such as food, sex, and social connection. The brain’s reward and executive function systems can be “hijacked” by nicotine, making them more sensitive to cues involving nicotine.
The brain associates vape design logos and the shapes of a vape device with nicotine through repeated exposures. In this, we are no better off than Pavlov’s famous dogs and their salvation when they saw food and then, simply, the empty bowl that represented food.
Simply put, it is a learning process, and the brain responds accordingly by prompting a desire for the object (nicotine) and the means to it (vaping).
Then, too, addictive substances lead to increased tolerance and cravings. Many students quickly use up their electronic cigarettes despite the promised three-month duration for a vaping device. This alone points to the excessive use of the devices and addiction.
To conduct this study, researchers in Ecuador administered cognitive tests to over 400 college students aged 18 to 30. Of these, 111 smoked cigarettes and vaped, 64 smoked exclusively, and 31 smoked alone.
Cognitive tests indicated that smokers and vapers consistently performed worse than non-smokers and non-vapers.
Is it necessary to wait for this research to be published in a peer-reviewed journal before we realize the dangers posed by vaping? The harm is happening right now, and waiting is questionable.
What Does Smoking Do to the Brain?
Most smokers think this activity may affect only the lungs, but scientific studies have shown that it also affects the brain and the digestive system.
Recent research found that smoking reduces brain size. Consequently, smoking effectively speeds up the aging process of the brain’s normal loss of brain volume with age. Although scientists have recognized the correlation between smoking and reduced brain capacity for some time, they have remained puzzled about the exact cause. And there is a person’s genetic makeup to think about, too.
This loss of brain tissue, which can be natural or artificial, is raising the issue regarding smoking or vaping, which may be a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease.
I’ve previously written about the research on vaping and what it discloses regarding the various dangerous elements that can be in a vaping cartridge. The outlook wasn’t pleasant then, and this additional research input appears to prove even more concerning now.
We know it’s not just smoking cigarettes that can cause the brain to reduce in size because vaping may do it, too. Pulling in the smoke and pushing it out of your mouth is not without consequences. Anyone who does this needs to be informed of the dangers.
Smoking or vaping can provide short-term respite for certain people with mental health issues, who may use it as a “self-medication” method. Nicotine withdrawal, on the other hand, could make depressive and anxious feelings much worse.
Cancer is one illness that frightens many people, and for good reason. No one wants to do something to encourage cancerous growth, but here is one that does. Tobacco use is associated with an increased likelihood of colon cancer. The second most common cancer killer is colon cancer. How attractive is a colostomy bag for a college student? Would they trade it if they could and not have to have one because they didn’t smoke?
When we consider what might be highly important to college students, e.g., getting into graduate school or passing tests for job opportunities, vaping rises in significance to them. Diminished ability on any cognitive testing can be an important reason to quit vaping if it stymies your ability to get into a highly desirable program or a job with a fantastic future.
Legal Restrictions of E-cigarettes
“As of March 31, 2024, 50 states (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington), the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau and the U.S. Virgin Islands have passed legislation that requires a retail license to sell e-cigarettes over-the-counter.” There are also restrictions as well as regulations on the age of any person to purchase these products in these states or territories.
American Samoa and the Marshall Islands do not have any legislation requiring a minimum age.
The situation concerning vaping and the distribution of associated products has now reached the level of federal involvement. To fight the illicit sale and distribution of electronic cigarettes, the Justice Department and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established a federal multi-agency task force today.
In addition to the FDA and the Justice Department, the task force will assemble various law enforcement agencies, such as the ATF, USMS, USPIS, and FTC, to work together in a coordinated and streamlined manner to combat the illicit distribution and sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) like e-cigarettes and vapes, which are causing a surge in nicotine addiction among young Americans.
We can no longer dismiss these products as harmless, and we must see them as possessing a criminal incentive regarding their distribution and use, harming those who purchase them. Those profiting from vaping products will fight against any restrictions using legal means.
Critics may claim discrimination against individual rights, despite the proven dangers of products like alcohol cigarettes. Research tells us that the juvenile mind is not fully mature until about the age of 25 and these products are aimed at a market that is well below that cutoff point. Even at 25, some individuals will not have reached majority in their brain development. Who should protect them from this type of advertising, and do we have an obligation to do it?
Restrictions on over-the-counter products are not new, and when we consider cocaine, this is a good example of where protecting the consumer was legally necessary. In the 20s and 30s, cigarettes containing cocaine were sold in stores, and cocaine-infused beverages and elixirs were freely available for purchase.
The original name for a popular soft drink, Coke-Cola, was derived from the fact that it contained this energizing ingredient. One of Sigmund Freud’s associates, a young physician, became addicted to cocaine, and even Freud himself, at one time, extolled the value of cocaine. He used it on a regular basis and wrote extensively about cocaine in one of his books.
Freud was, in fact, highly addicted to nicotine and may be considered to have had an addictive personality. A chronic smoker, he would light up twenty cigars a day. Was he orally fixated?
He endured a long and arduous 16-year battle after being diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the palate in 1923. At that time, he flat-out refused to give up smoking despite the fact that the fourteen surgeries he had were considered disfiguring and Freud was a vain man.
Ironically, the reason Freud first used cocaine for patients was to free them from morphine addiction. Things did not go well in that regard, and you see where he ended up being addicted to cocaine and small, black cigars.
For the soft drink, the ingredient was removed from the beverage because research indicated cocaine should not be freely available to consumers without medical supervision.
We have the research results, and they are troubling, but we must increase educational efforts regarding vaping to protect the health of the young and, perhaps, the not-so-young.
