The stigma that surrounds smoking hasn’t attached itself to vape pens, and in fact, US residents are now buying more vaping kits year after year as they turn their backs on cigarettes.
The US e-cigarette market was valued at $6.1 billion in 2020, and this is increasing despite bans on advertising and changes to the legal age for vaping.
Below is a guide to e-cigarettes, some statistics, and facts and assumptions surrounding vaping in 2023.
The difference between e-cigarettes and vapes
The original e-cigarettes were long and heavy and designed to resemble genuine pre-rolled cigarettes. Some of them even glowed red when they were sucked on. When people refer to vapes they generally talk about the refillable devices and single-use vape pens that are ubiquitous now.
Vendors such as the Red Vape Shop tend to concentrate on the more modern vape pens and juices than the original style e-cigarettes, but the lines are very blurred now.
E-cigarettes and vapes are two rather interchangeable terms and can be used to refer to both the cigarette-style vape, or the more colorful and modern pens and vapers.
What flavors can you get for e-cigarettes?
You may find that your vape juice options are limited by where you live. There are a number of states that are actively trying to prohibit flavored vape juice.
The reasoning behind this is that vaping has attracted many younger smokers, and fruit flavors may encourage underage individuals to start vaping. However, online vaping stores hold a vast number of different flavored e-liquids for sale including these.
Tobacco
Blueberry
Strawberry
Apple
Mint
Cola
Chocolate
Coffee
Kiwi Fruit
Melon
Grape
And, for this with rather strange taste buds, you can even get garlic, wasabi, and tuna flavored e-liquids for your vape pen, if you really want.
How old do you have to be to buy an e-cigarette?
Where vaping is allowed, the legal age is generally 18. But, in the US you will have to be 21 to purchase any vaping-related product since the recent changes to the law. And this even includes 0% nicotine e-liquids and disposable vape pens.
How many people vape today?
It has been reported that 5% of Americans vape now, and in the UK there were around 4.3 million individuals using e-cigarettes in 2022. Despite this, the tobacco market keeps growing. This is partly due to tobacco companies targeting emerging nations and markets as they seek to increase business threatened by vaping.
What has caused concern is the attraction of vapes to younger generations such as those attending high school and college. Brightly colored e-cigarettes and sweet-flavored vape juice have encouraged a generation to start vaping.
Whether these individuals would have started smoking cigarettes is unclear, but concern has led to restrictions on advertising.
Is vaping allowed anywhere?
Despite manufacturers and vapers advocating that e-cigarettes are a better option than smoking tobacco, many nations disagree. Perhaps because many countries are striving to end tobacco smoking, they don’t wish to introduce another addictive habit in its place.
The technology behind vaping dates back to 1927, but despite this, not every nation is happy to let residents use e-cigarettes. There are actually a large group of countries that have refused to allow the sale of vape pens and associated products. This is especially important to understand if you are planning a vacation overseas soon.
Many popular destinations such as Thailand are imposing fines and jail time on anyone caught selling e-cigarettes or using them. Generally speaking, you can reasonably expect that anywhere where smoking is allowed, vaping will be accepted too. So, that means no vaping on planes, or at the cinema.
Can e-cigarettes harm your health?
Your lungs aren’t designed to inhale anything but oxygen, so smoking a cigarette, or using a vape brings potential health risks.
It is understood that smoking cigarettes is bad for you, and e-cigarettes are often seen as a better alternative, but they cannot be viewed as healthy in their own right. Vape juice contains addictive substances such as nicotine.
Vaping has the potential to cause harm to your heart and lungs, so it cannot be recommended as a healthy pastime but it is largely viewed as a better choice when compared to cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Summary
The concerns about younger people vaping have led the US to impose a higher age limit on vapes than most countries, and this could also lead to there being stricter controls shortly and possible restrictions on flavored vape juice.
For now, though, millions of people are using vapes across the states, and this has led to a booming market for manufacturers and vendors alike.
And unless huge marketplaces such as the US, UK, and Europe, ban vapes, the market will continue to grow.
