From E-Cigarettes to Old-Fashioned Cigarettes
The vaping epidemic in the United States has created this new generation of young tobacco users. Many students at AUP come from the U.S., a country that has a different stigma attached to smoking cigarettes. Tobacco use was on the decline in the U.S. until the vape epidemic started in 2017. According to the National Institute of Health, 26.5% of high schoolers are into e-cigarettes like JUUL.
JUUL was designed for the nicotine to rush to the brain faster resulting in a stronger buzz. Cigarettes do not hit nearly as hard because the nicotine content is not as concentrated. Cigarette smokers are consuming less nicotine, and causing damage to their lungs that they are actually aware of. Vaping is still too new and there is not enough research on the long-term health effects. At least we have knowledge on what cigarettes are doing to our bodies. That aspect is more appealing to those that have to drop the vaping habit.
Photo credit: Zion Raeburn
In France, vapes are strictly regulated and the nicotine content is not nearly as high as it is the U.S., where it is between 1.4% and 2%. That is significantly less than what teens in the U.S. are used to. Students that come here from the U.S. that have a nicotine addiction from vaping are not able to sustain that habit . Sophomore AUP student Cody Boucher said, “I was vaping in the US chronically. I started smoking cigarettes in Europe because they were more accessible than vapes. The vapes are also weaker here.” The lack of access to strong vapes leads Americans at AUP to pick up cigarettes, which is frowned upon in the U.S. However, in France, smoking cigarettes is part of the social culture. “I already loved nicotine and having that in my life. I smoked cigarettes before in the U.S. and it was frowned upon but the culture here had me feeling more comfortable smoking cigarettes than vaping,” said Ruby Shaw, an AUP sophomore.
France's comfort with cigarettes and lack of access to vapes leads students to pick up cigarette smoking. If the French don’t condemn it and you need nicotine, you might as well smoke cigarettes. It also can be seen as a form of cultural immersion. According to Kaite Brown, an AUP sophomore, she “ grew up with the cigarette culture. I went to America and I was being judged at parties when I would bring out cigarettes. So I turned to vaping while in the states. When I moved back here I started back on cigarettes.” Kaite is from the United Kingdom but studied in the U.S. for a fewyears. Cigarettes do not carry the same dirty stigma as they do in the U.S.
Photo Credit: Zion Raeburn
Many Americans who come here already have a nicotine addiction. They come to France where cigarettes are normalized and begin the habit of smoking cigarettes. However, the French do not necessarily make smoking look aesthetically pleasing. The cigarette packaging carries the same label warning you of the long-term health risks. It is more of a matter of being addicted to nicotine.
However, this is not necessarily an alarming thing. It could be a habit that young people take on that they eventually decide to kick before health issues begin to arise. If you were vaping before coming here, cigarettes should not be that impactful. However, you can hit vapes anytime, anywhere as opposed to cigarettes, which you must smoke outside or in a smoking area. That is a lesser nicotine consumption rate which could be better in the long run.
Vaping in France is also simply not as affordable as it is in the U.S. Rolling your own cigarettes or buying a pack and conserving it is much more economically sound. Especially for a young broke college student with a nicotine addiction most likely picked up in high school or college. It is simply easier to stick to old-fashioned tobacco consumption through cigarettes.
