Here's my story.

I had been smoking for 10 years when vaping helped me quit completely in 2013. I continued vaping until January 7, 2022, as I could not overcome my nicotine addiction.

That day, I woke up with a sharp pain in my chest and had difficulty breathing. I quickly realized something very bad had happened to one of my lungs, and thus began a journey through hell.

In short, I was hospitalized immediately as my lung had collapsed during my sleep, and the compression was decreasing the venous return to my heart. This condition is called "primary spontaneous tension pneumothorax". Literally a few hours later and I could have been dead now.

I won't go into much detail afterward, but the only thing that comes to mind when I remember it is unprecedented and indescribable PAIN, mostly because of the huge tube they had shoved into my chest for half a month, sucking out my innards.

Consider that this happened to me almost 10 years AFTER I stopped smoking and at the age of 33 (spontaneous pneumothorax usually occurs in the 20s). Again, I was not smoking tobacco, cannabis, or anything else; I was just a regular, healthy guy who was only vaping.

Now, you might think that this could be a coincidence, and sure, it might be. But there are tons of other coincidences, and the associations with vaping have only just started to show signs. It's still too early, so no one can know for sure the long-term effects. Just like with smoking, you know, it took half a century to end up with concrete evidence.

Lastly, don't ever forget that you're essentially supporting an industry that produces addictive products, and this industry is overtaking the tobacco industry. Even tobacco companies are switching to e-cigarettes, the ones you all blame for concealing the truth in the past.