The only thing cooler than a cowboy sauntering across a Midwestern plain or a 20’s flapper sitting in a high rise above the streets of Manhattan, is a high schooler vaping at the recs.

Vaping is the new cool thing in cancer-creators, sweeping the nation faster than tanning and old-fashioned cigars. Nothing says “I want some bubble gum flavoring, and I want to die young” like vaping does.

When I first heard about vaping, I thought that it was a safe alternative to cigarettes. And I suppose traditional cigarettes are generally worse than vaping.  However, e-cigarettes do contain nicotine and are not harmless, like many users perceive them to be. These e-cigarettes contain carcinogens like formaldehyde and are unregulated by the FDA.

Even more frightening, since vaping is such a new craze, many of the health effects aren’t yet known.

Yes, if you had to choose between regular and electronic cigarettes, electronic cigarettes are a much better option.

But you don’t have to choose between the lesser of two evils. Choose to do cooler things, like join the Londonderry truck gang or actually participate in a club.

I can assure anyone thinking that they look cool vaping in the recs, that they do not.