Within the past month, several reports have surfaced throughout the United States of a new pulmonary disease that has been directly linked to vaping and other electronic cigarettes. Throughout the month, there have been reports of fatalities in states like California, Kansas, and Hawaii.

First diagnosed as a pneumonia-like illness, there was a direct correlation between the patient displaying these symptoms and the habit of vaping. 

“No one should use e-cigarettes or any other tobacco product. This message is even more urgent today following the increasing reports of vaping-related illnesses and deaths nationwide,” the president of The American Lung Association, Harold P. Wimmer, told CNN.

Many students, including those in the possession and frequent use of electronic cigarettes, aren’t as worried as they should be by the startling number of cases, including in our own state. 

“Personally, it doesn’t phase me because I feel fine. I don’t smoke often but the people who do smoke more often should be worried and modify their smoking habits,“ said an anonymous senior.

Although some students aren’t worried, others who don’t participate in vaping are actively concerned for their peers.

“I do think students should be concerned with this illness because not only is vaping constantly around us, but the people we see almost every day are doing it too. Some of the closest people to us vape – but I think avid users should be the most concerned though,“ said Jay Juarez, senior at MCHS.