GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Vapes or electronic cigarettes have only been around since the mid-2000s, which means there's not a lot of information on its effects. As more data rolls out, however, educators like public health expert Dr. Brittany Tayler said the impact of vaping causes more harm than good.
In 2025, it's hard to not know somebody who vapes.
"If I want a hit [of vape], I want a hit," said Greyson, a Canal Park pedestrian who only wanted to be identified by her first name.
It's a divisive topic among some West Michiganders.
"That's gross. I mean, it's not any better than smoking cigarettes," said Abigail Huey at Canal Park.
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There's not a lot of data to find out the facts but Dr. Brittany Tayler, an assistant professor at the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation of Public Health in Flint, said more information is rolling out each day.
"We're still looking at numbers. Eleven to twelve percent of youth who are using this product are under the age of 18. So again, that is pretty significant. It's much higher than any cigarettes have been in 20 years in that group," Tayler said.
A pediatrician, Tayler has a "special interest in addiction medicine, particularly tobacco and cannabis products."
"Some of the biochemical processes and the inflammatory processes that they've been looking at in people and in animals is exactly the same as what happens in cigarettes," said Tayler.
She said inflammation is just one negative impact that can happen when vaping.
"It's been more likely to cause heart attacks, more likely to have strokes, more likely to cause you to gain weight and have pre-diabetes, probably decreases the immune system," Tayler said.
It's not just the person vaping who might be harmfully affected.
"There's definitely very, very good data to suggest that secondhand aerosol is 100% a thing, and maybe even more potent than cigarettes just because of the, again, the formulation, and so it can leave more of a residue than a cigarette would," said Tayler.
Tayler said vaping also has impacts on the environment.
"E-cigarettes, because they have a battery, and then they also have nicotine, which is a carcinogen, can't be thrown away. And so it's very complicated because it's a hazardous waste," Tayler said.
"It's supposed to be better for you if you like vape instead of some kind of cigarettes. But it's the same thing," added Huey.
"I believe that people can do whatever they want with their body, not really any of my business," Greyson said.
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