Teen who was put on life support for vaping says, "I didn’t think of myself as a smoker."
“I just remember feeling like absolute … nothing. Like I just couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t drink water. I couldn’t move. Like, I literally just wanted to crawl out of my skin.”
From a vape a day to five days in the hospital on a ventilator to a medically induced coma … and Simah Herman didn’t think of herself as a smoker.
But she found out that vaping is not only just as dangerours as smoking, but it also carries its own dangers and unknowns that nearly cost Simah her life.
The fact check
- As of Sept. 10, 2019, there were six confirmed deaths and over 450 possible cases of lung illness in 33 states associated with e-cigarette products, according to the CDC.
- Patients also reported vaping cannabinoids like THC (the active compound in marijuana).
- There was a 78% increase in e-cigarette use between 2017 and 2018, according to the FDA’s National Youth Tobacco Survey.
Key takeaways
One Juul cartridge has as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. But it’s way milder, so it’s easier to inhale many times a day. Hello, addiction.
Vapers think that what they’re doing is better or safer than smoking. But while there’s no tar, they’re still getting a whole other set of problems. And nicotine is still nicotine.
