It’s not that difficult to find things that are safer for you than smoking.
Smoking kills more Americans each year than alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicides, drugs, and fires combined. Smoking can cause cancer (almost anywhere in the body, not just lung cancer), heart disease, stroke, COPD, and increase the risk for tooth loss, rheumatoid arthritis and cataracts, amongst other things. The list is genuinely overwhelming. But we’re sure you know smoking is bad for your health. It’s not new news.
All that to say: A lot of things are safer than smoking.
But “safer than smoking” doesn’t make it safe. More research is emerging about the impact of vaping on physical health, and…it’s not looking great.
Beyond the risk of lung injuries, there’s recent evidence that indicates long-term repeated exposure to e-cigarette vapor (which is what you’re getting from a PuffBar or JUUL, etc.) may be associated with issues with your stomach and intestines, including triggering gut inflammation, increasing your odds of getting bacterial infections and compromising the gut barrier. (Your gut barrier is your stomach and intestines’ defense system. So if it’s weak, you’re more likely to have inflammation, bacterial infections, illnesses, etc.)
One study also suggests current younger vapers may be more likely to report headaches and migraines, and adult daily vapers (guys) are more likely to report erectile dysfunction.
Vaping can weaken your immune system and can damage blood vessels.
Nicotine, which is in most e-cigarettes/vapes, can harm the developing brain and impact mental health. And since nicotine is highly addictive, the fact that one JUUL pod contains the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes is concerning. PuffBars and the overwhelming majority of other vape products contain nicotine.
Solid research can take decades to compile, and we fully admit we’re not *totally* there yet with e-cigs/vapes/JUUL/PuffBar. But what we know so far–what we’ve mentioned here–definitely gives us pause.
So, where does this leave us?
Vaping might be safer than smoking, but that doesn’t make it safe. So if you’re a regular smoker, vaping might be a *safer* switch… but if you don’t already smoke cigarettes, you shouldn't start vaping. Make sense?