Welcome to The Remedy with Dr. Rani Whitfield. We're a medicine, music, literacy, and other hot topics meet. I'm your host, Dr. Rani Whitfield, AKA, Tha Hip Hop Doc. Today we're diving into a topic that's clouding our communities, confusing our kids, and cleverly marketed to the culture vaping. I'm vibing to Otis Reding, cigarettes and Coffee, a very, very smooth and soulful vibe. A picture of late nights, deep conversations, and yes, cigarettes. Back in the day, smoking wasn't just accepted. It was cool, cinematic and romanticized. When I was a little boy, I remember watching the Jerry Lewis telethon with my dad and mom. Celebrities, including Jerry himself, would smoke on live television. If you Google cigarette ads from the 1920s through the 1950s, you'll even see physicians endorsing tobacco products claiming they were less irritating or soothing to the throat. It was legal, it was normal. It was deadly. The tobacco industry was a machine mastering what we now call cradle to the grave marketing. They hooked you early and kept you loyal until the end. Today we're living in a new age. Cigarettes might be going out of style, but vapes e-cigarettes and hookah pins and pipes have stepped in, sleek, discreet fruit flavored wrapped in neon colors and promises of being safer. But behind that vapor cloud is a truth that's far from sweet. According to the Centers for Disease Control. More than 2 million middle and high school students report using e-cigarettes in 2023 alone. Nearly nine out of 10 of them used flavored products. Mango bubblegum, cotton candy. And let's be honest, these are designed for adults trying to quit. They're bait designed to lure teens and young adults with flavor technology and social appeal. Social media plays a huge role, TikTok trends, Snapchat, smoke tricks. It's no longer just about nicotine, it's about identity. Fitting in and looking cool until addiction hits harder than the high. Vapes didn't show up to save our kids. They showed up to hook a new generation on nicotine, and they're doing it in flavors. Vaping, started with good intentions. In 2003, Chinese pharmacists Hon Lik invented the modern e-cigarette after losing his father to lung cancer. His goal was simple, a safer alternative to smoking. But when vaping hit the US market, big tobacco saw an opportunity, companies invested, acquired and rebranded. Then came Juul, the apple of vapes. Sleek designs with high nicotine content ads for JUUL featured young models and social media influencers. What began as harm reduction became harm in disguise. As a physician, I often get this frequently debated question, can vaping help smokers quit? The sign says, maybe. But here's the kicker. Most people who vape to quit end up doing both. It is called dual use. Dual use refers to when a person uses both traditional cigarettes and another nicotine product, such as e-cigarettes at the same time. An example of this is someone might vape during the day and smoke regular cigarettes at night. This behavior can increase health risks rather than reduce them. You're not quitting, you're just shifting. You're still addicted just in a different form. And for teens who never smoked, vaping becomes the gateway, the on-ramp to nicotine addiction and sometimes back to traditional cigarettes. So ask yourself, is it a bridge or a trap? Vapes contain nicotine, highly addictive, especially to developing brains, but that's not all. They also contain heavy metals like nickel, tin and lead, plus chemicals like formaldehyde and acroline known to damage lung tissue and increase cancer risk. And here's a simple truth. Anything you burn or heat and inhale into your lungs is an irritant our lungs weren't designed for smoke or vapor, not from cigarettes, not from vapes, not even from natural herbal products. The lungs were made for clean air, not chemicals, heat, or particulates. We may not fully understand the long-term effects yet, but do you really wanna wait 20 years to find out? Beyond the long-term risk lies something more immediate? EVALI or e-cigarette or vaping Associated lung injury. In 2019, over 2,800 people, many of them teens were hospitalized with severe lung damage. 68 died. Some were placed on ventilators while some never fully recovered. The primary culprit was vitamin E acetate found in elicit THC vapes, but the kicker is some were only using nicotine containing products. They called it popcorn, lung, lungs filled with fluid. Oxygen levels would crash, and healthy kids were suddenly fighting for their lives. If that doesn't shake us awake, I don't know what will. EVALI associated lung injury continues to occur at a reduced rate compared to 2019. The decrease in e-cigarette or vaping product use associated lung injury is largely attributed to removal of vitamin E acetate from vaping products. Vitamin E acetate was identified as the primary cause of EVALi, particularly in illicit THC containing E-cigarettes. It's removal from these products along with increased public awareness and law enforcement actions against illicit vaping contribute significantly to the decline in EVALI cases. Recent data, however, indicates that ongoing cases and fatalities linked to vaping still occur. In January, 2024 the California Department of Public Health reported 250 EVALI cases with 2% fatality rate. Since March of 2020, 40 new cases, including one death have been documented in California. EVALI remains a significant health concern, particularly among youth. In 2023 reports emerged of younger individuals being hospitalized due to vaping related lung injuries. While the initial outbreak has subsided these incidents underscore the persistent risk associated with vaping. Continued vigilance and public awareness are essential to prevent further cases. We learned from cigarettes too late or we really about to make the same mistake with vapes? I also wanted to briefly talk about hookah and those gas station cigars. You know what I'm talking about? Black Milds, Swisher Sweets and flavored wraps. They're everywhere. Embedded in music videos, corner stores, and Friday night rituals. Hookah lounges are marketed as safe social spaces, but an hour long session can equal the smoke of 100 cigarettes. Yep! 100 And those gas station cigars, they're unfiltered and often gutted and refilled with THC containing products. But let's be clear, they are not safe. They're toxic, and they're aimed at black and brown communities just like menthol cigarette were. This isn't a coincidence, it's a strategy. As I read the book, Cigarette Century by Alan M Brandt, it's like flipping through a blueprint for today's crisis. Brandt breaks down how big tobacco glamorized, normalized, and monetized addiction. And now we're watching History Repeat itself, repackaged and rebranded for Gen Z. Back then, doctors endorsed cigarettes. Now influencers on TikTok are blowing smoke rings and calling it stress relief. And then there's the music. I'm vibing to Otis Redding's, The Soul album, especially the song Cigarettes and Coffee. That song, it's moody, it's real. It captures a time when smoking felt intimate, cinematic, and even poetic. But now it's vapes and energy drinks. They sit in backpacks, in glove boxes, on nightstands. Same illusion, new flavor. So whether it's 1966 or 2026, the cost is the same. Addiction, illness, and eventually loss from cigarettes to cigars, to vapes, if it burns your lungs or hooks your brain, it doesn't care what it's called. if you're vaping to cope, to fit in, or because you think it's safer, take a breath. A real big breath, clean lungs, clear thoughts. Vaping isn't harmless. It isn't healing, and it is not hype. It's a hustle. Talk to your doctor, talk to your kids, talk to yourself, because here at The Remedy, we're not just trying to educate, we're trying to change the game. Thanks for tuning in to The Remedy with Dr. Rani Whitfield, where medicine, music, literacy, and other hot topics meet. Catch us every Sunday on Spotify, apple podcasts, or wherever you get your audio fix. And don't forget to like, share, subscribe, and drop a comment. Every click helps The Remedy grow so I can keep bringing you that powerful blend of medicine, music, and literacy you know and love. And remember, we're born looking like our parents, but we die looking like our decisions. It's Tha Hip Hop Doc. They call me H 2D. Come on y'all, let's get hip hop, healthy, peace and blessings. I'm out. The content on the Remedy with Dr. Rani Whitfield is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider for personalized medical guidance. Dr. Rani Whitfield is a licensed family physician, but the information provided on this podcast should not replace professional medical consultation.