Bullshit! It is hugely more like “real” smoking than candy cigarettes, and it is thus very much more likely that it might function as a gateway to tobacco smoking for some people (not to mention the vaping of other drugs apart from nicotine).
Candy cigarettes, which were common when I was a kid, are no longer sold AFAIK, presumably because they were thought (rightly or wrongly, but, let’s be honest, almost certainly at least a tiny bit rightly) to encourage cigarette smoking later in life.
Yes. I think vaping by children ought to be discouraged, and probably made illegal.
Also, although vaping nicotine is undoubtedly much safer than smoking tobacco, and is beneficial to individuals and society inasmuch as it helps a lot of people to give up tobacco, it is disingenuous to pretend it is harmless. Nicotine is still a highly addictive, psychoactive drug. Such drugs may have benefits, but none of them will ever be harmless.
Vaping is awesome for those of us who want to quit smoking. I made the switch a little over two weeks ago. I’ve only slipped and smoked 6 cigarettes in that time. Vaping delivers my nicotine (the juice comes in various strengths, so I’m slowly weaning myself off the drug entirely), satisfies the hand-to-mouth habit, and even produces a satisfying cloud of vapor to exhale. About the only part of smoking it doesn’t replace is providing a convenient excuse to walk around outside for a few minutes every so often–but the upside is my productivity is up, because I have about an extra hour at my desk instead of being outside smoking.
That said, I would not allow a child to do it. I see no real benefit for anyone that isn’t a nicotine addict and/or trying to quit smoking.
Obviously not grade school, but I’d actually lower the age to join the military to 16, if I was running the show, and I’m not even sure I’d require parental consent. I think we’ve gone too far towards infantilizing late teenagers in our society (especially when it comes to what we expect from them in terms of school, work, and social contribution), and for some teenagers, serving in the military might teach them something about responsibility and duty.
Well, maybe 17 is better than 16, but no, I’m not. There are lots of countries which let 17-year olds and in some cases 16-year olds serve in the military.
Considering most military branches want a HS diploma, or at the very least a GED, I think the military disagrees with you regarding the value of staying in school until you’re done.
It is a stick of solidified sugar, just as harmful as any other candy. If they made candy heroin syringes would anyone realistically argue that was a gateway to heroin addiction?
EDIT:Anyway I would not let a child under my care vape nicotine free liquid because there is no point to it, I don’t feel there is a particular harm either but I also wouldn’t let them do lots of things.
IF I had a older teen already smoking cigarettes and I found out I would do my best to move them over to vaping.
We already know that it’s possible to develop a psychological dependency on the physical habit of smoking, independent of the nicotine consumption. If you didn’t know that, ask any ex-smoker. I’m a former smoker-turned-vaper, and I really don’t remember what I used to do with my hands and mouth as a nonsmoker. Getting over the 3-day withdrawals is easy in comparison to the mighty mental struggle of hands reaching for a cigarette without your brain’s conscious permission.
I think parents have a duty to minimize unnecessary risks whenever possible. This includes the risk of addiction to anything, whether it’s gaming or junk food or caffeine or (the act of) smoking. So I think it’s a bad idea to let kids mimic smoking for no reason. Kids are more vulnerable to peer pressure and advertising than (most) adults. As a society, we dislike it when movie stars pretend to smoke onscreen, because kids see them as role models and might do the same thing to “look cool.” I wouldn’t like it if my (hypothetical) kid had friends who vaped, whether or not it was nicotine-free, because then my kid might want to start vaping. And he might start adding nicotine, and how would I know the difference?*
*I know this is technically a slippery slope fallacy, but humans are not logical creatures. I started smoking with one clove, moved on to cigars (only while drinking), then took up cigarettes.
Do you remember candy cigarettes? They tasted awful! No one bought them because they were yummy. You bought them because it was fun to pretend to smoke, look cool, and be like all the adults in your life. The best ones were the ones you could blow into and would make a powdery “smoke”, I think those were the bubble gum ones? Like Rachellelogram says above, smoking is about so much more than a physical addiction.
I don’t think I’d encourage my kids to play-act at any potentially harmful adult activity.
“Don’t worry Mommy, Johnny and I were just *pretending *to have sex!”
I’ve actually seen syringes full of liquid candy. There was a bit of an outrage about them a while back, not sure if you could still buy them. But, be honest, wouldn’t you be a bit concerned if you saw your child pretending to shoot up with or get high off of her candy?