Vaping is everywhere. In backpacks, school bathrooms, passed between friends like it’s nothing. The scent of fruit lingers in the air, barely noticeable. It’s easy to get, easy to hide, and even easier to start.

The first time he vaped, it wasn’t planned. It wasn’t even a conscious decision. It just happened. 

It started with a bad day, everything felt too heavy. A failed test and more deadlines piling on, arguments at home, friends who can’t seem to notice, and parents who can’t seem to care. The weight of it all was unbearable. 

Then came the offer, a moment of relaxation. “It’ll calm you,” they said. He paused, even hesitated for a moment. The warnings were somewhere in the back of his head, but they didn’t matter at that moment. It wasn’t a cigarette, it wasn’t a drug, just flavored air, so he took a hit. 

It helped, at least for a moment. 

At first, it was just that once, when the days got hard, but soon that habit turned into a routine. It became a quick hit between classes, before bed, when things got too stressful. 

What first started as an escape quickly took over his life. His body started to crave the feeling; the more he vaped, the more nicotine he needed. He told himself he could stop anytime, but quitting began getting harder than he thought. 

He was addicted.

The withdrawal hits first the splitting headaches when you spend even a moment without your vape. Then came the mood swings, the irritability.

 His grades started slipping because his focus diminished, his patience ran thin and his stress came back worse than before. 

That small habit became a trap he couldn’t escape. 

It’s not just about addiction either, his breathing came out harder, faster. A scratchy throat in the morning feels normal and coughs linger. 

Sometimes he lets his mind wander on if his life was always like that, but those thoughts disappear with the next hit.

It doesn’t help that everyone is doing it, or at least that is what it seems. 

The Reality Behind The Story 

The story above is fictional, but the consequences are not. The truth is vaping isn’t harmless; it is not just “flavored air.” According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), what you inhale is much more than air and highly addictive nicotine. It can be “metals such as arsenic, chromium, nickel and lead.” 

The CDC suggests nearly 1 in every 10 middle and high schoolers use e-cigarettes. Many start because they think it is a safer alternative or have a story like that just presented, but either way, vaping is not just for fun; the consequences are serious and they outweigh the benefits by far.

Most people don’t plan on vaping forever. They tell themselves they’ll stop after high school, after finals, after one bad week, but the longer it goes on, the harder it is to quit and for many, it isn’t about stopping; it’s admitting they ever started in the first place.

That’s why vaping awareness month exists; it’s not just about statistics or warnings, it’s about real choices and real consequences. It’s about understanding how easy it is to start and how easier it will take over your life.  

Don’t let addiction become your new normal.