This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Amna Faheem. Find her on Instagram at @amnaf.aheem. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Nicotine use is not something that was born in our generation. Popularized in the 19th century, tobacco—the source of nicotine—became a sign of wealth and affluence. Its use grew over time and reached its highest consumption rate in the mid-1960s. It was then that people became aware of the health risks smoking poses and started to taper off the substance. What once seemed like a promising decline in the nicotine industry turned around and began to soar with the introduction of vaping and E-Cigarettes. Our generation was once thought to be the one that would end this epidemic. Significant energy was exerted to bring to light the risks that nicotine use imposes. However, after considering the nicotine use by generation, it does not seem favorable any longer.
Through the years
Long before the Cali Bars and the Juuls, cigarettes were dominating the people. During the mid-60s, after a steady rise in the use of nicotine, 40 percent of adults were smoking, the prime time for cigarettes. It was after the Surgeon General published the first report outlining how harmful smoking is for your body. It brought to people’s attention the possibility of nicotine causing lung cancer, bronchitis, and possibly even heart disease. As the years went on, more campaigns were created to dissuade the public from partaking in nicotine use, with the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act banning ads for nicotine products in the media. Labels with health warnings were to be printed on packages detailing the potential effects of smoking. As time went on, smoking bans began to get implemented state by state. It wasn’t until 2009 that the minimum age to purchase tobacco was set to be 18 years old.
Since then, different campaigns and acts have been created to deter people from engaging in nicotine use. The Real Cost campaign, established by the FDA, was the first to educate and prevent the youth from starting to participate in nicotine use. Using advertisements and public announcements, they were able to successfully prevent almost 600,000 teenagers from beginning to smoke in their first two years. Created in 1999, the Truth campaign began to heavily target teenagers when vaping started to reach them, showcasing people who have battled with nicotine addiction and sharing their stories. The more people are exposed to the dangers and possible illnesses, the less likely they are to seek out nicotine.
Nicotine use by generation seemed to have found its dead end with the help of the anti-smoking campaigns. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, smoking decreased from 25 percent to 19 percent, more than 45.3 million people.
However, despite the best of efforts, our generation seems to have brought back nicotine but in a different, arguably worse, way.
Today
Our generation was considered to be the end of nicotine. Campaigns led by the Government and health organizations were being pushed in every corner of the media. Acts and regulations were passed to make accessing nicotine difficult for young Americans. The detrimental outcomes to one’s health were emphasized severely. The results were positive.
Until vaping was presented.
High school students set up camp in bathrooms in between classes, sharing devices and trying different flavors. Underground dealers sprouted with the newest pods and sold chargers to those in a pinch. The efforts of the past decades were wiped away in the blink of an eye.
In 2019, e-cigarette use was reported by over 5 million teenagers, a record high. 600,000 Americans younger than 21 were using the Juul vape, and 10.5 percent of middle schoolers claimed to have been using e-cigarette devices. Vaping devices began to get more attractive and complex, many now having screens displaying animations and some even having games and access to the internet. Flavor selections are vast and appealing to anyone, and many smoke shops do not regularly I.D. their customers, attracting a wider audience and allowing kids to pick up the habit from too early of an age. The act became standard among many teenagers and college students. ‘Can I hit your vape?’ became a question that everybody was asked or had asked themselves. Our generation complains about cigarette smoke and frowns upon the smell and anyone with discolored teeth as we hit our chemical nicotine devices and inhale toxic metals into our lungs. Our generation has normalized nicotine use, and vaping only makes it easier. Cigarettes require one to be outside and in certain spaces, as smoking is prohibited in certain public areas. Cigarettes leave an odor on your clothing and cause damage to your teeth.
Vapes are easy. They can be used in the hallway of your lecture hall. In the bathroom or on your couch in the living room. They are the first thing we pick up and the last thing we put down. They taste better and are much easier to use. But, despite how attractive they might be, they also increase the chances of having a heart attack, induce anxiety, affect your mood, and damage your sleep.
We, as a society, went from inhaling tar and arsenic in cigarettes to formaldehyde and lead found in vapes.
It’s sad to witness how nicotine, through the years, has only changed and become more appealing. Nicotine use by generation has not ceased, only altered.
We were going to be the generation that put an end to nicotine. But we simply changed how we consume it, making it more technologically advanced alongside all other aspects of our lives.
Now what?
Despite the gloomy outlook on nicotine use by generations, there is still hope. In 2024, the number of teenagers reported to be vaping was one-third of the amount it was in 2019. The number of high schoolers using e-cigarette devices dropped from 10.5 percent to 7.8 percent. Younger Americans do not vape as much, and the starting age has been decreasing by two months every year for the past ten years. It is too soon to tell what sort of long-term effects vaping will have on us, but its newly steady downfall is encouraging.
Have you noticed how common vaping is over cigarettes? Let us know in the comments below!
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