When Hector was asked to write a community profile, he chose his best friend. He's concerned about his friend's new smoking habits.  The vape pen has become popular in Hector's crowd.  He's seen the damage that it can do.

Hector Vasquez

Professor Lewenstein

English 1A

November 1, 2016

The True Effects of Vape Pens

    A vape pen creates an inhalable vapor with a small inner coil that slowly heats, creating a vapor that is inhaled. I’ve seen this with my own eyes as one time my friend was getting high with a vape pen. I didn’t believe him when he told me you could add drugs to take a hit and get high. For me it looked like an ordinary vape pen but it wasn’t. He was even taking a hit in public and it was surprising to see that people didn’t mind at all. It turns out, that the pen exhales a different smell than it should had been. Back then people would seek the use of e-cigarettes to stop smoking regular cigarettes. However certain individuals are now taking advantage of this vape pens and putting their health in danger just to take a hit. Cigarettes have been a controversy for many years but now a day’s people are switching to e-cigarettes, also known as vapes. Some say it doesn’t affect a person’s health but they are wrong. I see many people changing the ways a vape should be used by adding drugs like meth. Vaporizer pens are becoming the new way for drug users to not only get high, but do it discreetly at times right under the noses of police, parents and teachers, and it is no local phenomenon. These vape pens are popping up more frequently in drug busts, and the steady rise of abuse is alarming communities across the country-cigarettes, or vape pens, have been around for more than a decade but have boomed in popularity recently because of marketing to nicotine users looking for a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes. Also fueling the trend is the accessibility of oil concentrates.

    I’ve known Oscar, since we were little kids and it is surprising to know that he uses a vape pen for fun. He has been using this product since a long time ago but he uses it very differently. He’s those kind of people who adds drugs like weed so he can relax much faster and get high quicker. It’s shocking to see how a person seeks relaxation my doing drugs without knowing its consequences.

    Is using Vape pens healthier than smoking cigarettes? We are reaching the point where even teens and adults who have smoked cigarettes, make a switch to try this new types of e-cigarettes. In fact, it is believed that vaporizes can reduce the number of toxins inhaled by individuals, reducing the odds of a disease. However, some people utilize these products differently. Certain individuals enhance the Vape pen by adding drugs like weed, wax and other chemicals. Furthermore, valuing is considered as a perfect alternative to smoking regular tobacco cigarettes and a person can even use it multiple times unlike a regular cigarette. Even though the dangers of using Vape pens haven't been proven it is safer than actual cigarettes. Many people are purchasing e-cigarettes to use when trying to quit smoking, but we do not have good evidence that people quit smoking completely by using e-cigarettes. Until we know more about e-cigarettes, these medicinal NRT products, combined with help from quit counselors or friends and family who have quit can help a person become a non-smoker without tackling the remaining questions of e-cigarette safety.

    It’s a hot afternoon and we are sitting on the benches in the park and I could see how nervous and shy my friend is. I ask him the first question and he thinks about the answer without even knowing what he was going to say. We’ve been friends since elementary and I never thought he would end up in this situation. He went from a high school athlete to someone who dropped out from college because he wanted to enjoy his life with his friends. However, his friends aren’t that good of an influence because all they do is smoke weed and get high. I asked him why he starting using vape pens and he replied, “to fit in with his other friends.” People may see this vape pen as an object that isn’t harmless but indeed it is not. Even though e-cigarettes and vape pens aren’t proven to cause any harm, others take advantage of it. They finish the vape pens chemicals and start enhancing it with drugs like marijuana to get high. I told him if smoking vape pens was worse than smoking cigarettes and he said that it was the same thing for him. People utilize this products because they can’t deal with their addiction. He even said that, “These products can cause many problems but an individual wouldn’t notice it because they’re to busy smoking one by one.” It was a shock hearing a person say that but yet he won’t stop using his vape pen. The moment he said that to me I saw him and thought that if he knew the consequences of his actions, then why continue damaging his health. As we continue our interview, we watch how people are enjoying their day playing soccer. I told him that we grew up playing soccer together and now he prefers to smoke it rather than kick the ball. He looked at me feeling sad that he quit playing something he loved, for something that could end his life. I remember we would always say, “Soccer is life” but for him it isn’t anymore. My friend admitted that he has been doing this because it relaxes him from all his problems. It might do that but he doesn’t realize he is slowly killing himself. I asked him my last question and told him if he would quit smoking vape pens and he said yes immediately. Even though he has done bad stuff, he seeks for a better future and a future without any drugs or alcohol. Furthermore, I believe he quit vaping but he needs to put in some effort. After our interview we put on our cleats and pretended like nothing was ever said or happened.

    Admittedly, some people view vape pens as a solution to stop smoking regular tobacco cigarettes. Many high school students have quit smoking cigarettes to start trying vapes pens. They like the idea of exhaling and smelling the flavor smells. Perhaps the teenagers have acknowledged the dangers of smoking cigarettes and have moved on to something safer. In fact, many smokers say that vape pens can help a person stop smoking regular cigarettes. Many doctors suggest that this product help certain individuals beat their addiction of smoking. I believe that if a person wants to stop smoking they should try smoking this vape pens because it would decrease their chances of having health issues. It would also change the chemicals they smell, from tobacco to tropical smells. The idea from changing from cigarettes to vape pens, will actually decrease the death rate of people who smoke. Cigarettes kill many people daily and annually even more. However, I believe if a person tries these new products their lives will change forever. The purpose of this products is to help people quit smoking but people who don’t smoke can try it as well. It’s not scientifically proven that these products can cause health effects so it’s even more attractive to try it out. Above all, this product is not risky at all to utilize and it doesn’t cause any health issues. It’s not even illegal to use, so any person can go buy it and use it without anyone judging them anymore.

    As a matter of fact, out of all the topics I could have chosen, vape pens was the most interesting. I’ve known my friend since we were little kids. We grew up playing in the same soccer team, went to the same schools and are currently attending the same college. I felt that I should share his story on why he chose to use vape pens and I couldn’t pick no one better than my best friend. This assignment has given me the chance to learn more about by best friend and on the products he uses, in this case vape pens. It was interesting to research the true effects of vape pens because many people see it as a solution into quitting smoking but it is not. After reading so many articles about the dangers this product offers it seems it’s not so different from smoking a regular cigarette. I felt that I needed a witness to tell me the true effects of each product and as I imagined, I was right. I never saw vape pens as something dangers but then I realized that smokers enchase it buy adding weed or other drugs to relax and get high. For example, I appreciated Jay’s Double-Side Note-taking technique. It helped me organize my ideas. I read my articles closer. I responded to important parts of the writing. When I combined my research and my reflection I had a well-developed paragraph. It was amazing to learn how to paraphrase many articles and expand their knowledge in my own words. The note cards helped me organize my thoughts and they gave me ideas to mix my research into my personal opinion towards the matter. The interview was the most fun part of the essay because all this time I was finding interesting amazing facts of vape pens but I needed someone to tell me it’s true effects. It was unexpected to find out that almost everything I searched about my subject was true. My friend basically told me his side of the story and the articles told me another. I have never had to write an eight-page research paper before but it was a great experience to research and learn something new in this world. I honestly do see myself using any strategies in my other classes, as a matter of fact, I also have an interview assignment in my other classes. This technique can be very useful to develop a well written report about my interviewee. As a writer I feel that I’ve new strategies that I can help me grown into becoming a better efficient writer. I feel more confidence in my writing because with these techniques I’m learning how to quote or paraphrases a whole article with polarizing anything. I found out more about my friend than I did before. I never thought I would be able to put together everything that was asked from me in this assignment. However, I eventually did it, and now I feel I can take on more challenging assignments in any future course.