Vaping is the new trend in today’s society. People of all ages–parents, grandparents, even teenagers–are trying this new method of tobacco inhalation, also known as “e-cigarettes.” Why? Is it because it’s cool and it’s the new “in” thing to try? Or is it because the health risks are less than the real intake of cigarettes?

The definition of vaping, according to Google’s dictionary, is the “inhaling and exhaling of vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device.”

One pro to vaping is that it reduces the exposure to tobacco, on both the part of the smoker and those nearby. When people smoke cigarettes, all the toxins do not only go into the smoker, but also to the people around them. When someone vapes, they do not have that problem, because they are taking in water vapor, and not all the bad chemicals in a cigarette. Therefore, it helps the person vaping, and the ones around them too.

“With vaping, [the vape] doesn’t smell bad. It’s not smoke so it can’t harm anything. You can get a variety of different flavors and it’s just overall better than smoking,” according to a spokesperson from Red Devil Vapors, a relatively new vape shop located at 680 N. Hanover St.

As everyone knows, cigarettes have a bad odor of tobacco, and this stench remains in people’s clothes and skin for a long time. For vapor cigarettes, this problem does not occur. The liquid in vaporizer is scentless, so it does not release any smell to the environment, so vape does not affect people, or the world, the way the bad smell in cigarettes do.

“It has less negative health affects than smoking, and it enables you to quit smoking while still getting nicotine, and it doesn’t leave you smelling like cigarettes,” said CHS student Tyler (last name omitted for privacy reasons).

However, there are downsides. A con for vaping is that vaping does not help with quitting addiction. Vape liquids offer any type of nicotine dosage, so people who vape can get as much nicotine in their liquid as they want. Sometimes it makes it difficult for consumers trying to overcome the addiction to nicotine.

Another con is that there is a lack of government regulations on vape cigarettes. This is one potential drawback, because it does not determine whether the product is safe or not.

“(People) don’t know the risks associated with inhaling these chemicals. … We need to move more quickly [to regulate e-cigarettes],” said Joseph G. Allen, assistant professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

There are also reports of battery explosions, from many news stations, explaining the results, in the cigarette and person, leaving burn marks,and mouth, tongue, and teeth being at risk of damage. This is due to unconfirmed sources of these electronic cigarettes.

Although there are some pros and cons to the new style of vaping, electronic cigarettes are spreading across the country. Their use should be taken seriously. Not everyone knows the research if vaping is a safe thing to try, so those that do vape should be of eighteen years of age and take caution while using it.