You might have heard of people using their vape pen, or their mods; e-cigs, e-hookahs, hookah pens. The list goes on and on. Each of these are mediums for vaping and are battery powered. You don’t light them like you do a traditional cigarette, instead they have cartridges that are filled with liquid that can be inhaled when turned on.

Because vaping is new, it hasn’t been studied enough to understand what damage it can do to the body over time. What professionals do know is that nicotine is one of the main ingredients in the vapor. The highly addicting substance can have a negative impact on self-control, mood, memory, and attention span. In addition, the constant inhalation of the chemicals can cause irritation to the lungs and in some cases irreversible damage.

You don’t have to vape everyday in order to get addicted and you certainly don’t have to vape everyday for you body to feel the repercussions. There are some e-cigs that can be used with nicotine-free cartridges. While most people think these are “healthier”, all they’re really doing is eliminating the addictive substance and continuing to inhale the dangerous and unknown chemicals.

From what scientists can tell at this stage, vaping has less health-related consequences than smoking cigarettes, but that doesn’t mean that vaping is okay for you. For smokers, quitting can be extremely difficult and so they use the lesser of two evils to help them kick the habit. For a non-smoker to pick up vaping, they put their brain development, lungs, and impulses at risk. Not to mention the many long-term effects that have not yet been studied.