Why do Hanseatic students vape? Because it’s hip and because it tastes good. But also because nicotine the mother of all addictions is, says the expert.
Luna (20) does not smoke. ‘I don’t like the taste,’ says the Autonomous Fine Arts student. “But I do vape occasionally, especially when I’ve been drinking. I now have a watermelon flavored vape. I use it when I’m with people or when I come home.’
Vapes are in. ‘We mainly sell more and more vapes to students,’ says the seller Gijs de Vries from Limbo Liquids. The flavored vapes are very popular.
But why do students actually vape? And especially now that there are more and more voices against vaping?
From January 1, 2023, the government wants to ban flavored e-cigarettes. Physician Epidemiologist Esther Croes van the Trimbos Institute specializes in tobacco control. She suspects that the upcoming ban will make vaping a lot less attractive. ‘This is especially true for young people who have not yet started vaping. But for people who are already addicted, it’s not easy to stop.’
Even if it’s not allowed, you can vape everywhere, you won’t be called on it and vapes don’t smell so bad either
Design-student Maurits (24) was first a ‘dirty chain smoker’, as he calls it himself. He has been vaping for half a year now. “While I was dancing in the Attic, a friend offered me her vape. Super nice, because I could just keep dancing. So I gradually started vaping.’
In more and more places it is made difficult for people to smoke. Vaping is more accessible. “It’s easier to vape in public spaces,” says Esther Croes. ‘According to the law you are not allowed to vape where you are not allowed to smoke, but in practice it appears that you are less likely to be called to account. It also doesn’t smell as bad as tobacco. It’s quite easy to use the vape all day long.’
“I don’t buy vapes, they smell too clean, I don’t want to risk using them in my room all day”
Most people smoke shag on Minerva, says Luna. She started vaping because some of her colleagues are doing it. She is not concerned with the consequences. ‘I don’t have any problems with it, so I don’t notice that it has anything to do with my health.’
All his friends smoke, but Design student Abel (19) prefers not to take risks. ‘Through family history, I guess. It just never seemed so attractive to me. I’m one of the few who doesn’t smoke or vape.’
Student Autonomous Visual Arts Form (19) knows many fellow students who are addicted to the vape. But among the members of her student association Dizkartes, the vape is even more popular. She herself only smokes other people’s vapes while going out. “For self-protection,” she says, “I don’t buy a vape because it feels way too clean. Then I run the risk of using it in my room all day long. But I do think it’s healthier than smoking.’
‘The tobacco industry framed the vape as a exit product with which you get rid of tobacco, but it is a step product‘
Is that right? Is vaping less bad for your health than smoking? Tobacco addiction expert Esther Croes thinks that’s the wrong question. ‘You shouldn’t compare those things. The Trimbos sees vaping as a stepping stone, first you vape and then you switch to tobacco. The tobacco industry framed the vape as an exit product, as a means to get rid of tobacco.’ But, she warns, vapes still contain nicotine, the addictive substance. “It’s even easier to inhale with vapes than with regular cigarettes.”
Is there less nicotine in the vape, or more?
Maurits is one of the vapers who thinks that vaping can help him to quit smoking. ‘First I want to quit smoking, then vape. I think it’s easier to quit vaping. I think there is less nicotine in a vape.’
‘I thought I heard that there is actually more nicotine’, says Autonomous Fine Arts student Roos (19). “I think vaping is unhealthier than smoking, but I don’t really know.”
It’s simple, explains Esther Croes, it just depends on the amount of nicotine and how often you use the drug. ‘You actually get everything that’s in a vape, the nicotine and all the other substances that are in it.’
Research shows that people who do not smoke, but who do vape, show the onset of cardiovascular disease. Of course, little can be said about the long-term consequences, the vape is too short for that. ‘We do know that there are carcinogenic substances in vapes,’ says Croes. ‘And the flavors they contain are not harmless when you inhale them. A notorious example is the butter flavor in the popcorn vape. It causes great damage to the lungs. Vapers have died from that.’
Addiction expert Esther Croes: ‘Will promote addiction is immoral’
Internationale Design student Martin (23) from Bulgaria has already noticed that vaping is very bad. “I started so I could do tricks like making circles, the tornado and… jelly fish.’ When he noticed that his lungs were hurting, he stopped vaping. Usually he smokes the IQOS. According to Martin, that is healthier than vaping and smoking. IQOS is similar to an e-cigarette, but with a stick of tobacco. A lot less tobacco gets through here than with a real cigarette, he says. ‘In Bulgaria they already did it in 2015, but here you hardly see anyone doing it.’
It is mainly the nicotine in combination with the flavors that concerns Esther Croes. ‘Your brain is developing until you are twenty-four. Nicotine ensures that certain connections in the brain are not made properly. This can lead to anxiety, depression, impulsive behavior and concentration problems. In addition, nicotine has been called the mother of all addictions. I think it is immoral to deliberately make young people addicted to nicotine by packaging it in trendy products with tasty flavours.’
Photo: Chiara Summer