---

Vaping isn't worse than smoking. It's still addictive, could inhibit teenage brain development, and many chemicals found in vapes are toxic when you expose yourself to them chronically.

OP's post says that vaping alleviates their anxiety. That's probably the other way around—their anxiety is likely caused or worsened by nicotine withdrawal which is what drives them to vape.

In my experience at least, nicotine actually does alleviate anxiety. That is, until you become addicted to it and the anxiety you want to alleviate is caused by the substance itself.
- Kinda like caffeine.
  
  I've never heard of caffeine causing anxiety. Do you have a source you can share?
  For me personally, caffeine in certain doses reduces my anxiety based general OCD and Reading OCD.
  
  Caffeine, specifically black coffee, makes me feel like my life is falling down around me whenever I drink it with any amount of regularity. Anecdotal of course but I imagine if it has such a profound effect for me that it probably has the same effect for others even if it's more subtle.
  Though to be fair I only noticed this after I was prescribed an actual stimulant medication that for me has way fewer side effects, which significantly reduced my caffeine consumption. So now it's more of a shock to my system.
  
  I actually prefer black coffee because super sugary coffee like Starbucks = AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH especially if it's got that fake sugar shit in it like sucralose, aspartame, etc.
  
  Yeah sugar and sweeteners don't bother me (although you might want to make sure that isn't a lactose allergy or intolerance because I've been there too 😅) but I specifically called out black coffee to mean that like energy drinks for example don't make me feel that way despite having around 4x as much caffeine on average. On the other hand, any drink that is more coffee than any other additive will make me jittery and anxious. So I'm not sure if it's specifically the caffeine that does it for me or some other component of coffee.
  
  Yeah sugar and sweeteners don't bother me (although you might want to make sure that isn't a lactose allergy or intolerance because I've been there too 😅)
  I'm not lactose intolerant, but I have been thinking that maybe I've started developing an intolerance ever since I stopped drinking so much milk.
  \ Caffeine is already pretty much a laxative though and I've never had a particularly strong sweet tooth, so large amount of sugar + caffeine O⁠_⁠o. Fake sugar is even worse because it makes my stomach hurt a lot, plus it just tastes awful.
  I specifically called out black coffee to mean that like energy drinks for example don't make me feel that way despite having around 4x as much caffeine on average.
  Energy drinks tend to use pure caffeine powder, so maybe you're having a reaction to the other chemical compounds, like Theophylline. If you homebrew, you can reduce them by using various techniques, like using filtered water instead of tap and adjusting the temperature.
  
  Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
  
  No sources on hand. But now that I think about maybe I mean something more like irritability. Idk. When I was younger I would drink caffeinated drinks instead of eating... So it could be that lol.
- It doesn't alleviate anxiety so much as distract you from it. Anything can do that, that's just what a coping mechanism is. For many people, that might be painting, playing video games, exercise, or anything else. It's just that nicotine is a particularly unhealthy coping mechanism. There are other unhealthy coping mechanisms too—some people gamble, others drink alcohol, and some people stress-eat excessive amounts of junk food.

We don't have the longterm statistics to say one way or the other

But my gut tells me that there are significantly less carcinogens in vape juice than cigarettes (or anything burning)

Edit: I'm not condoning vaping either. I think it's very stupid to vape, especially if you weren't a smoker prior. I'm just saying vaping hasn't been around long enough to draw definite conclusions

I can see it being used as a quitting tool, though

It's not worth fighting over which cancer stick is worse when not smoking is an option.
E-cigarettes produce a number of dangerous chemicals including acetaldehyde, acrolein, and formaldehyde. These aldehydes can cause lung disease, as well as cardiovascular (heart) disease. E-cigarettes also contain acrolein, a herbicide primarily used to kill weeds.
https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/e-cigarettes-vaping/impact-of-e-cigarettes-on-lung
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/Quick-Facts-on-the-Risks-of-E-cigarettes-for-Kids-Teens-and-Young-Adults.html
Just don't vape, man..
- Those studies had extremely flawed methodologies. For the formaldehyde one, they burned a ce4 cart more than 40% higher than the nominal voltage (5.2v vs 3.7v) for 90 seconds.
  I challenge you to inhale for 90 seconds. I can't even do it and I'm a skilled brass instrument player.
  Basically every study showing negative effects has either flawed methodology, or the news outlets reporting on them conveniently forget to mention that the levels are orders of magnitude lower than what cigarettes produce. Hell, even some of the heavy metal results were lower than atmospheric levels.
  Source: I've read all of the studies.
  
  While that test may not be the norm, it represents cheap brand knockoffs that may have shitty voltage control, or faulty, etc. it is not like they run ever vape through rigid testing like airplane control systems ( and even those fail )
  
  No, it doesn't. No human would be able to draw on an atomizer that was being fired at 40% higher than normal voltage for more than a split second.
  But yes, if you managed to draw on an atomizer that's literally burning for 90 seconds and survive the lung scaring and smoke inhalation, the byproducts of burning plant matter and plastics is likely not healthy.
  
  i wasn't contesting the 90 seconds, sometimes tests are setup no following real world parameters to gain info that would take too long to gather otherwise. like Carcinogen tests with LD50. Black pepper is a carcinogen (when injected under the skin--per the test method). But nobody eats pepper that way. The 90 seconds may be to test the amount of exposure in one day, etc
  
  No, it's straight up flawed methodology. Pretty much anything will produce harmful chemicals if you set it on fire.
  These tests were designed to produce negative results, which is bad science.
  Vaping cuts into profits from several industries as well as tobacco tax revenue. This is why any vaping study that comes out of the US needs to be heavily scrutinized.
- Nothing you linked indicates that e-cigarettes are worse than traditional cigarettes.
  
  Sure, but I think in this case we're trying to convince OP to not do either. Vaping is safer than smoking, it's not safe. If you currently smoke and can't/won't quit the nicotine, switch to vaping. Don't start vaping if you're not already a cigarette smoker.
  I would like to see some better quality studies, but those are in short supply because of the amount of bullshit studies funded by people who profit from big tobacco. I think there was one good study about how nicotine specifically was bad for cardiovascular health?
  
  Yeah, vaping when you're not already a cigarette smoker is how end up on cigarettes.

It absolutely fucking isn't. It's "healthier" than smoking by a wide margin. So is abstaining from it. But for people already smoking, vaping will not only be better for them but can also help them kick the habit. Please keep your blatantly wrong garbage takes to yourself, misinformation like that does active harm to other people

Incredible, every word you just said was wrong

Yeah, no

Depends on how you mean worse.
\ Vapes, are worse in the sense that they have a lot more nicotine.
\ But cigarettes are way worse medically (Unless you count explosive vape batteries), do to all the extra toxic chemicals.
\ If you're a chronic Vaper, the silica and other shit in the filter can get into your lungs, which is the primary cause of Vape related lungs diseases in chronic users, such as silicosis. You can get this from cigarettes too, but it's less likely because you can actually see the filter and know when to stop.
\ Both are bad and unhealthy regardless.