Dark History - 161: Saving Millions or Making us SICK?? The Shocking Truth Behind Vaping

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Hi friends, happy Wednesday! Even though it’s super controversial, it seems like everyone is vaping these days. If you’ve ever watched my FYP videos, you know that I like to take a hit of the devil’s lettuce from a vape pen.  But every time I post one of those videos, without fail, someone is like, [annoying voice] “vaping is so bad for you!” or “hell yeah, I’m hitting my vape pen right now.” People are always on opposite sides of the fence.  So of course, I had to bite the bullet and do some research. Who the hell invented the vape pen? And are they *really* that bad for you?  I appreciate you for coming by, and tune in next week for more Dark History. I sometimes talk about my Good Reads in the show. So here's the link if you want to check it out. IDK. lol: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/139701263-bailey ________ FOLLOW ME AROUND Tik Tok: https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram: http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Facebook: http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter: http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube: http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian RECOMMEND A STORY HERE: [e-mail] Business Related Emails: [e-mail] Business Related Mail: Bailey Sarian 4400 W. Riverside Dr., Ste 110-300 Burbank, CA 91505 ________ Credits:  This podcast is Executive Produced by: Bailey Sarian & Kevin Grosch and Joey Scavuzzo from Made In Network Head Writer: Allyson Philobos Writer: Katie Burris Additional Writing: Jessica Charles Research provided by: Coleen Smith Special thank you to our Historical Consultant: Chelsea Boyd, epidemiologist and health policy thought leader. Director: Brian Jaggers Additional Editing: Julien Perez and Maria Norris  Post Supervisor: Kelly Hardin  Production Management: Ross Woodruff Hair: Luca Burnett Makeup: Nikki La Rose ________ Get your first visit for only five dollars at https://www.Apostrophe.com/DARKHISTORY when you use our code: DARKHISTORY.  Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to https://www.RocketMoney.com/DARKHISTORY today! Calm the chaos of order fulfillment with the shipping software that delivers. Go to https://www.shipstation.com and use code DARKHISTORY to sign up for your FREE trial.  Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to https://www.Zocdoc.com/DARKHISTORY to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today!

The other day I was in the mood to watch an old movie so I turned on Casablanca and if you watch old movies there's something that you notice that maybe you forgot about. There's always so much smoking right? And the movies in like well Casablanca was in all black and white so it just it looks so everyone just looks so cool and so sophisticated and they're just like, what did you say? And it made me wonder like 50 years from now when they make movies about us, will we all have vapes in our hands?

I mean, if they want like the movie to be accurate, vapes might be included. It seems to be a controversial topic, but to be fair, everyone is vaping these days. If you've ever watched my TikTok like for you page videos on Instagram you know that I take I like to take a hit of the devil's lettuce from a vape pin but every time I post one of those videos without fail someone is like you know vaping so bad for you

blah blah blah and I'm like yeah I, I know. You know, people are always on opposite sides of the fence, really. And like, look, real talk here, real talk. People always say like, well, it's better than smoking cigarettes. And you're like, well, okay. I don't know, you know? So of course, naturally, I was like, look,

we gotta like look into this, right? Who the hell invented the vape pen? And are they really that bad for you? Spoiler alert, let me just say the answer might surprise you. Welcome to the dark history of vaping. Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Here we believe history does not have to be boring.

It might be tragic, sometimes it's happy, but either way it's our dark history. Before we get into it, don't forget to like and subscribe because I'm always here for you posting new content. And let me know what you think in the comment section because I read them at the end. Did you know that? Okay, well now let's get into it. Before we get started, let's all get on the same page about what I mean when I say the word vape.

There are a ton of different names, brands, and products that are associated with vaping. E-cigarettes, vaporizers, E-pipes, hookah pens, jewels, are jewels still around? Uh, vape, whatever, but essentially, they all do the same thing. They're all battery-powered devices that heat up a liquid, then turn it into vapor, and then you inhale, and it tastes good, because they have a lot of good flavors. Over the last 10 years, it seems like these vape pens

have just really come out of nowhere. It's like, suddenly your Aunt Barbara is sucking on a banana ice flavored puff bar. And you're like, let me hit that. Is it good? But the truth is, vape pens have been around in some form for almost 100 years. I know. I was like, I know nothing, you know? And it all started with a man named Joseph Robinson. You see, in 1927, Joseph invented something called the Mechanical Butane Ignition Vaporizer,

rolls right off the tongue. But he didn't invent this device for smoking. Instead, he wanted to make something that could help people inhale their medicine, almost like an inhaler for asthma, but you know, not for asthma. He designed the device and even got a patent for it in 1930, but Joseph like never actually followed through

and made the product. No one knows why, but his invention was not a waste because for years, people wanted to make an inhaling device similar to his. And that's where a man named Herbert A. Gilbert comes in. Herbert Gilbert, that's a cute, cute name. He sounds like a hippo. Herbert Gilbert, aw.

Well, in the 1960s, Herbert was living like, you know, beautiful, peaceful life in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Beaver Falls, it already sounds like there's white picket fence houses, green grass. It just sounds nice. Beaver Falls, it already sounds like there's white picket fence houses, green grass. It just sounds nice. Beaver Falls. Okay. Well, he was raising a family while working at his small business, a place called Gilbert Iron and Steel. And they were essentially scrap metal dealers.

Now, just like every other man in the area, Herbert was a big time smoker. You know? At one point point he was said to be smoking like two packs a day. Now Herbert, he knew he had to quit, right? But quitting cold turkey, hell. So he got to thinking, what makes smoking so bad for your health? I'm sure we're like everything, right?

Yeah, but he was thinking it. Now Herbert wasn't in a lab, so he couldn't do like fancy experiments. He basically lived in the woods in Pennsylvania. So one day he looked in his backyard and thought, the problem, as I concluded, was that when you burned leaves and wood, even if you did it in your backyard,

it yielded a result that no one wanted to take into their lungs, end quote. So Herbert got to figuring out how can you heat something up without making it toxic. So he goes to the kitchen and he opens up the fridge when he has another thought saying, "'I happen to remember how tea is brewed. That solved the problem.

Using logic, I had to find a way to replace burning tobacco and paper with heated, moist, flavored air." So this just gets his mind going. He's like, I have to figure out a way to trap hot, moist air into some kind of device I can suck on. So he looks around his scrap yard and he grabs some extra metal and he gets to work.

And what he ends up inventing is a black metal tube with a silver tip. It was battery powered and able to make vapor out of heating a liquid. Herbert's invention is very similar to what we know today as like the vape pen. Now the difference is Herbert did not want there to be any type of addictive substance in it,

like nicotine, but he did go on to invent vape juice that would go inside of this little contraption. And not just any random vape juice, he thought of all of his favorite things he liked to eat and drink. Things like rum, cinnamon, mint. And he managed to create a vapor for each flavor. When he inhaled the pen,

it was like drinking a Mai Tai. Not only would this help people quit smoking, he thought, you know, but Herbert was also thinking maybe it could help people diet. I mean, a lot of people were smoking because it was being advertised as like, skip a meal, have a cigarette. So kind of like, okay, I can see the connection there.

Herbert called this invention the smokeless. And in 1963, he patented it. He packed his briefcase and started networking with people to get this invention off the ground. He knew that this had so much potential. So he was pitching this idea to chemical companies, pharmaceutical companies, tobacco companies, but for some reason, no one wanted to touch it.

Now, Herbert was devastated. He knew that this device had so much potential. And here's what really sucked. Herbert was trying to make his smokeless device pop off during a time when most of America didn't consider smoking a serious issue. No one really knew that they were all gonna be dying. You know, like he was just ahead of his time. It's like, why smoke that when I could just have

my lucky strike? A year after his invention failed, the US Surgeon General publicly released a report showing a direct connection between lung cancer and smoking. The public finally realized that they needed to at least try to quit smoking because look, you're gonna die. There could be like some deadly consequences, okay? Herbert gave up hope after none of those companies

or corporations took interest in the smokeless, even after the report came out. So his patent expired and his invention kind of just fizzled out. Over a decade would go by before the vape pen returned to society but this time it had to have something that a smoker would quit their cigarettes for. It needed to be something that would take the edge off quitting cold turkey and keep users coming back for more. Well, seasons are changing.

I don't know about you, but I'm dry. I'm looking like Leatherface. I'm looking like beef jerky. I'm looking like dehydrated, thirsty. Oh, you know, and with the changing seasons, you have to change your skincare because your skin needs different things, you know? And it can be frustrating, like where do you start?

But that's why I'm always excited to partner with Apostrophe. Whether you're dealing with acne, signs of aging, dark spots, dehydration, oily skin, Apostrophe helps you get access to the right treatment for you and your skin. Now all you have to do is fill out an online consultation, Aposrophy helps you get access to the right treatment for you and your skin. All you have to do is fill out an online consultation, snap a few selfies of your skin, then your dermatology provider will create a customized treatment plan just for you.

Through Aposrophy, you can get access to treatments, medications, skin care, whatever you need to help address your skin concerns. I love Aposrophy, been using it for years. Hi, have you been watching? I really, really use apostrophe, I love it. It's easy, you don't have to leave your house. You update your profile online. A dermatologist will be like, okay, here's what you need to do.

And then it gets, whatever, like, you decide to get, it gets shipped to your house, so you don't even have to leave. It's the best! Right now we have a special deal for our audience. You can get your first visit for only $5 at apostrophe.com slash dark history. When you use our code dark history, that's a savings of $15.

And listen, this code is only available to our listeners. To get started, just go to apostrophe.com slash dark history and then click get started. Then use our code dark history at signup and then you'll get your first visit for only $5. It's worth it, I'm telling you. A big thank you to Apostrophe for sponsoring today's episode. Now let's get back to today's story.

So by this point, it's the 1970s. Tons of people are still smoking, but now they at least have some knowledge that it's bad for them and they're looking for alternatives. Then in 1979, a man named Phil Ray was one of those people looking for a solution. Phil, he worked, well, he was like a computer genius who worked for NASA and he was known for helping men land on the moon so smart guy you

know but everyone has their vice and for Phil he was a smoker he liked smoking okay and he got to the point where he really wanted to quit but there weren't any good options out there well that's that's not true. There was an option. The only option was nicotine gum, but at this time it wasn't very effective nor satisfying. You didn't get that. It's just, it's not the same, you know, and he's thinking, why am I waiting around for someone to invent a smoking alternative?

I work at fricking NASA. I need to figure this out, you know? So Phil goes to his doctor, his doctor's name is Norman Jacobson, and he asked him to help create an e-cigarette. He wanted to preserve the buzz and the throat hit of smoking a cigarette, but eliminate the smoke. So he designed a product that was the size and shape of a cigarette,

and it was even painted to look like one too. Oh, it was like, oh okay. But what was in it? Well, Phil had a light bulb moment. What if people smoke pure nicotine vapor? That way people could actually stop buying packs of cigarettes and maybe even just stop smoking altogether. At this time, science was saying that smoking was bad for your lungs and caused cancer. Which true, chemicals and all that yes. But a major reason people were addicted to smoking and still are is because of the nicotine. Nicotine is a chemical that is in the tobacco plant. So if you could figure out a way to get your nicotine fix

without hurting your lungs, you should be good, right? Now, scientists, of course, did not agree with this because nicotine was still addictive and it's still a chemical, you know? But Phil argued that his nicotine e-cigarette was basically like nicotine gum, just a different delivery system. A piece of paper soaked in liquid nicotine would be placed inside the device and once you inhaled, a beautiful puffy cloud of pure nicotine would come up.

Phil called this device the FAVOR. Oh. He filed a patent and actually got the product sold on the market. They even used the tagline, do yourself a favor, when advertising it in stores. And it seemed like this was the product of the future for smokers looking to quit. But pretty much right when it got on the market, the FDA tried to ban it. Which is like, okay. They claimed it was a drug, okay.

Dr. Jacobson, Phil's co-inventor, called BS. He's like, this is not a drug. The favor had less nicotine than a traditional cigarette, so how could their product be a drug? But cigarettes were still allowed to be sold? It made no sense. Make it make sense, you know? They were pissed.

And even though Dr. Jacobson didn't have any solid evidence, he believed Big Tobacco screwed with their company because they knew how successful the product would be or could be. And I mean, they would be in direct competition with each other. And Big Tobacco, they want to keep their customers at all costs, okay? But also, to be fair, Phil and Dr. Jacobson were ignoring a major flaw with their product. The Favors e-cig juice is just nicotine. When nicotine sits for a while, it becomes very bitter and it tastes nasty. The product would have probably flopped on the market anyway.

Still, the product created an appetite for nicotine in e-cigs. And Phil is actually the guy who created the term vaping. Wow, way to leave your mark, Phil. I mean, you could say it wasn't all a waste. And look, over the next few decades, so many different companies tried to create an e-cig that actually could make it in the market. And all of them failed. Finally, in 2003, one man succeeded. And he single-handedly changed the vaping scene forever. In the 90s, a man named Han Lick

Forever. In the 90s, a man named Han Lick, love that, went to study traditional Chinese medicine at college. He was always supposed to go there. It was like a career chosen for him when he was younger. Han was born in China where there were more than 300 million smokers, so just like many people he knew, as soon as Han was an adult, he started smoking. He said that as soon as he woke up,

he'd cigarette in the mouth. He'd go to class, smoke in between, smoke at lunch, smoke all the way home, smoke, smoke, smoke. He'd usually go through two packs by the time he got home and smoke a third over dinner and drinks with his colleagues. Damn, didn't you feel like doodoo? Okay side story side note, I started smoking cigarettes when I was 18 because I wanted to be like Mary-Kate Olsen,

whatever come from me don't care but I just thought she was so cool and I wanted to smoke and then like it's very addictive you know and you just whatever I smoked so much. I was up to like I thought I was up to a pack a day at one point in my life and I felt like garbage. So I don't know how you're up to three. I don't smoke anymore. I vape. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Leave me alone. Shut up. Shut up. When I first got into vaping, the only people who were doing it were like kind of no offense, low-key high. I was there though.

Douchebags, like all the douchebags, all the bros, they were vaping. It was like so embarrassing and it was like cringy. And I show up today and Paul looks exactly how these vape bros used to look. And maybe they still look this way. And I'm just out of touch now because I'm a little bit older. But Paul, you look, you look like a vape bro. Vape life.

Anywho, back on track Bailey. Good times. So he's smoking a lot. At the time smoking was again, totally normal. And then one day, this all changed. Han's father, also heavy smoker. He got diagnosed with lung cancer and sadly passed away from it.

For Han, this was like a really big wake-up call and he finally decided that he wanted to stop. So he turned to nicotine patches, you know, for help. And they were definitely helping, but there's that oral fixation that you lose. You don't get that with a patch, okay? He still had that desire to smoke. It was better than nothing, but it's hard.

One night, Han forgot to take off his nicotine patch before bed, and I guess he had some insane nightmares all night. He said that he woke up a different man. He realized why the patches just weren't cutting it anymore. With patches, you get a small continuous dose of nicotine. With smoke, you get a sharp and quick high of nicotine, which for him relaxed him. So Han decided to create a solution. He thought he could use his knowledge of Chinese medicine to help. He wanted to create a device that would mimic smoking without, again, the deadly smoke. In 2003 he invented his own version of an e-cigarette. He called it the ruyan

which translates to like smoke. In his device, liquid was being turned into vapor through something called an ultrasonic automizer. Sounds so fancy, I know. But I guess it's similar technology to ultrasonic cleaners people use to clean their jewelry in TikTok videos. I got one of those. Oh, they work so well.

I don't know how they work, but they work. Okay, it's weird. But essentially, vibrations are used to like shake the liquid so hard and fast that it turns into like super tiny droplets, AKA vapor. And this created a much smoother and better drag when it was inhaled. Maybe you've seen these devices, they look like cigarettes and when you inhale them, there's a little light on the end and it looks kind of like a lit cigarette. Initially, the products were only sold in China

as a way to help people quit smoking cigarettes. But by the mid 2000s, they made their way to the US. In the patent Han and his company file, they said the device functioned as quote, substitutes for quitting smoking and cigarette substitutes, end quote. Han's device sold really well in the US, so well that in 2013, Imperial Tobacco Group

bought the product for $75 million. Good for him, huh? As for Han, he went back to smoking cigarettes. So, you know, he's still vapes, I guess. So now he's just addicted to two things, but hey, you go, Han, you tried. And that's all that matters. Since Han's invention arrived in the US,

a ton of other companies decided to get in on the e-cig business. Since 2007, e-cig sales in the US have been rising more and more. According to a report from GAO, to this day, 90% of the e-cigs that we have in the US are imported from China. There's one vape pen that was started right here

in the US of A. And many people believe this vape pen redefined the vape business forever. You know her, you heard of her. You love her. She's kind of gone now. Jewel. Paul, just because you look like you work at a bank doesn't mean you know how to manage money. Managing your money can be difficult. Thanks to Rocket Money, my financial wellness goals are now within reach.

Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. You can see all of your subscriptions in one place so you know exactly what you're paying for and know exactly where your money is going. And if you want to cancel like a subscription or something, well guess what? Rocket Money can help you do that. It's so easy.

If you're looking to kickstart the new year with like a new budget, maybe just cleanse all of the stuff you're paying for. I'm at the, I am this close. If you can see me, I'm very, very close here. I'm about to cancel all of the subscriptions, every single one of them. That's where I'm at right now.

I'm ready to start over. Well, if you're like me, you can easily create a personalized budget to help keep your spending on track, which is nice. They have this new feature called Goals, which automatically saves money for you. So you don't even have to think about it. It's like, hey, what's your goal?

And you're like this, and you'll be like, okay. With the Rocket Money app, you can input your bills so you can get an alert if there's an increase in price, if there is unusual spending, or if you're close to going over budget. Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of 500 million in canceled subscriptions,

saving members up to $740 a year when using all of the app's premium features. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to rocketmoney.com slash dark history today. That's rocketmoney.com slash dark history. Rocketmoney.com slash dark history. In 2004, James Monsies and Adam Bowen were students at Stanford University. I guess, yep, smokers, they were smokers. And while they were on a smoke break together,

they were talking about how they were so sick of being addicted to cigarettes. You have to buy the packs, the lighter, you gotta find a place to smoke, find time to smoke, plus then you stink all day, you smell like a smoker, your fingers start to turn kind of like this yellowish color. It sucks. So they decided to create something that would help them quit smoking. So they put their heads together to design their very own take on a vape pen.

By this point, dozens of vape pens had crashed and burned in the industry. So they're like, okay, we have to stand out, you know? First of all, they were setting themselves apart from Han's device. They didn't want this to look like a cigarette. They wanted it to be in a category all on its own. It was going to look futuristic and chic. And wasn't going to be disposable. This was something they wanted people to take pride in owning. A vape pen to lead to your grandchildren. A vape pen to pass on for generations to come. Now in order to create a product, you had to obviously look at the research.

What did people like about e-cigarettes? What did they not like? What did they keep buying? Why did they keep buying them? Instead of digging into the typical research, the guys decided to get creative. They discovered that a nearby college had access to public records of internal documents within the tobacco industry. Hello, score. of internal documents within the tobacco industry.

Hello, score. When all these scientific studies came out about how cigarettes and cancer were connected, it also came out that tobacco companies had been lying to the public about how deadly it was. Big tobacco companies were sued and they were forced to turn over the data that they had been hiding from the public,

including data on who bought cigarettes and why. This information was GOLD to James and Adam. Suddenly they had decades worth of research. Now they didn't have to do all of their own research because Big Tobacco had done a lot of it for them. They got to sit back, relax, and almost in a way, cheat their way through research. I don't like saying cheat their way because really it was all available to them. They just use their resources. You know?

They're like, thank you, this helps us tremendously. And from there, they figured out how to market to each and every demographic. Smart, I'll give them that. They were so stoked about this product that they decided to make it their senior thesis. They invented a portable vape pen called the Plume. It sounds like something for like douching, right?

Kind of sounds like something like douche, you douche, like Plume keeps you fresh. But that's what they went with, okay. But with this device, it was portable and it didn't look like a cigarette. It was almost like a shiny black car key, you know? Just a little bit bigger. The plume heated up pods of flavored nicotine,

which created a nicotine vapor that could be inhaled. James and Adam's professors warned them that they were moving way too quickly with their idea and not doing enough research. But you know how it is, they're like, nah, we're gonna do it anyway. After they graduated, they moved to Silicon Valley and began a startup based around Plume.

But right away, it wasn't going so well. Plume needed butane fuel in order to work, so users had to carry a little can of fuel with them in order to refill. so users had to carry a little can of fuel with them in order to refill. Talk about an inconvenience. Also, apparently the plume would sometimes electrically shock users when they used it. So it was a good idea, they just needed to work out the kinks.

So they ended up getting a $10 million investment and redesigned the plume into the Pax Pen. Okay, this I remember. I remember Pax Pens. Now these were, this was the beginning, right? So things are like ridiculously priced. The Pax Pen was $250. So who's gonna buy that, okay?

And yeah, Bob down the street can like not buy cigarettes for a week and I'm sure he would have the $250 to buy that, okay? And yeah, Bob down the street can like not buy cigarettes for a week and I'm sure he would have the $250 to do that, but Bob's not gonna do that because he needs this fixed now, you know, so it wasn't really exactly for everyone. James and Adam, they knew the only way that they would attract the younger everyday person was to design something with a reasonable price tag

and also give them that good hit of nicotine. So they got the design down. They came up with a four inch long device that honestly looked like a USB drive. It had these flashing lights that would activate as soon as you sucked on it and inhaled. They called this creation the Jewel. They called it Jewel because of a jewel? Like jewelry? Yeah, nothing deeper than that really.

I thought it was a cute name, now just like jewelry. With the Jewel, it's supposed to be quote, discrete and aesthetically pleasing, making the user feel like they have a little piece of modern luxury. And they spilled it out that way just to stand out. The Jewel was invented in 2015. They kicked off marketing for jewel right away to try and make vaping appealing and easier and an option. They went right after companies like Vice Magazine, which mostly targeted young people. They took out a Times Square billboard, they sent free samples of Juul to people like Leonardo

DiCaprio and Bella Hadid, and they did whatever they thought they should do to make the product cool and in the public eye, you know? And it worked. By the end of 2017, Juul was the number one vape pen in America. And by 2018, the company was valued at $15 billion. Insanity, literally three years after it hit the market. That is insane. I loved my jewel though. I had a jewel, I loved it. There was like a mango, I would just like suck on it all day.

It was so easy to use. It was like small. I don't know, I liked them. I liked it a lot. Even though Juul was a preferred vape pen in America, they were starting to get called out for their questionable marketing. Life in general could be chaotic, but if you're in charge of order fulfillment for an e-commerce business, good luck, because that's a different kind of chaos. But with ShipStation, you can count on your day-to-day remaining com. Don't freak out. Setting up my ShipStation account has saved me hours of time.

Plus, ShipStation users are able to save money every month by shipping from all your stores with one login, automating repetitive tasks, and finding the best rates among all the global carriers. You can print shipping labels at the click of a button, and you can manage all of the orders on one dashboard, so you're not losing track of anything. I love using ShipStation because it's the fastest, most affordable way to ship products to your customers

with discounts up to 88% off UPS, DHL Express, and USPS rates, and up to 90% off FedEx rates. That must be why over 130,000 companies have grown their e-commerce businesses with ShipStation. And 98% of companies that stick with ShipStation for a year become customers for life. Calm the chaos of order fulfillment with the shipping software that delivers. Switch to ShipStation today. Go to ShipStation.com and use code DARKHISTORY to sign up for your free trial. That's ShipStation.com code dark history.

Some experts believe that the company was actually trying to target children. I mean, they were sending free jewels to celebrities, so they'd be caught vaping in paparazzi photos. And we all know how young people are influenced by celebrities. I mean, look at me, I started smoking because of Mary Kay Olsen.

And I'm sorry, I don't wanna put that pressure on her because at the end of the day, we all make our own choices, but I wanted to be like Mary Kay so bad. So I was like, Parliament lights, me too, girl. American spirits, you know? So if you're seeing celebrities vaping these jewel pens, same thing. But jewel would remind website visitors

that you had to be a legal adult in order to purchase their products, you know? Even if you were underage and couldn't legally buy a vape, you'd still be able to like get Juul marketing emails. And even if you failed the age verification page on their website, you'd still get spammed with advertising. They'd be following you. Jewel was even accused of advertising near schools,

selling their products out in the open in stores, not behind the counter, and funneling free vabes to the new wave of celebrities, influencers. Where was mine? I didn't get one. Hello? So rude. I'm very upset about this.

You know, but at the end of the day, this quote unquote bad press wasn't bad for Jewel. We all know that if you tell people and teenagers that they can't have something, they're gonna wanna do it even more, especially if you try to ban it. I mean there was this whole controversy over vape flavors being created just for kids so there's flavors like cotton candy, bubble gum, mango, you name it okay? I loved mango. People who

were anti-vapors believed that these flavors were created specifically for children. Do you guys remember when they banned those mint Juul pods? Now the reason was that they believed, they being whoever's in charge around here, that certain Juul flavors would stop young people from smoking. In my personal opinion, banning mint isn't gonna stop young people. Because young people want bubble gum, they want fucking mango, they want fucking cake. You know, mint gave me a stomach ache. I didn't really care.

I was like, go ahead, ban mint. But it doesn't take a genius to know that there's more than one company making a flavor that you like. It just seems like this was all for show. There was a study done in 2021 by Dr. Abigail S. Friedman, which showed that teenagers in San Francisco specifically, they actually started smoking cigarettes more after they started banning vape flavors.

So people are addicted and they're gonna get their fix where they're gonna get their fix, you know what I'm saying? But then in 2019, the North Carolina attorney general sued Juul for designing, marketing, and selling its e-cigarettes to young people. And surprisingly, they won. Juul was forced to pay $40 million into programs that would help prevent addiction to e-cigarettes. They also had to agree to stop advertising near schools.

Plus, Juul was given the strict order to stop quote unquote misrepresenting the danger of nicotine in its products. In 2022, the FDA banned the sale of Jules in the United States. Then in 2024, they partially reversed the decision letting them sell Jules while they were under review by the FDA. So it was like, make up your freaking mind. And look, to be clear, it's not just Jule

that they were doing all this to, they were just the ones who were being made an example of. Dozens of vape companies took advantage of young people wanting to try vaping by advertising on social media. There were ads on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, X, whatever, Pinterest, I don't know, vape, everywhere, everywhere you go, vape. And the kids and teens who didn't have social media, Jewel bought ads on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and teen magazines, which is so weird, right? And it worked, because it's still smoking.

I don't know. From 2014 to 2016, a poll was done that showed 78% of American middle school and high school students confirmed that they had seen at least one ad for vaping. And surprisingly 63% of adolescents don't know that Jules specifically contained nicotine. And to be honest, we don't really think of nicotine as being that serious. It's kind of like caffeine, you know? Because of how new it is, this is my assumption,

is that's the reason why we, you never really hear about like long-term health risks for adults when it comes to vaping. Yeah, I mean, it's always about the kids. Which I get, but I'm wondering if you're an adult, is vaping really that bad for you? I don't know. Well the answer always goes back to two things, nicotine and additives. And vape pens are always compared to cigarettes, so I wanted to do a quick comparison.

Ahem. According to the American Lung Association, there are around 600 ingredients in one cigarette. And when burned, the cigarettes create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of those chemicals are known to cause cancer. Okay, so we can all agree, not great. Now it's a little more complicated to study vape pens since, one, there are so many companies, and the FDA rules for vape pen manufacturers are hazy, confusing, and a little blurred. There was a study done in 2021 by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins that

found over 2000 chemicals in popular vape brands. Most of those chemicals hadn't been reported by the manufacturer. Some people would have no idea that they were vaping these chemicals. I thought it was just water and vapor. Like, I don't even know. I just thought nicotine and like smoke. Like, you know, I don't know. No one, no one knows.

In 2014, there was a study published in a scientific journal called European Addiction Research which showed that using e-cigarettes is around 95% less harmful than regular cigarettes. I'll make sure to link these studies down below if you're more curious but to be fair I'm just saying this in my own opinion that study was done in 2014. Vapes have progressed a lot and there are so many out there. I mean who knows what are in these vapes? The only thing that we really have solid evidence on is the nicotine. I learned that nicotine is not great. I know you're probably

thinking I'm dumb but I didn't realize that nicotine actually can lead to cognitive deficits, meaning this is good, like it affects your ability to learn and it affects your memory. Oh yeah, now this is especially true if you're a young person whose brain is still developing, which probably makes sense because my memory is so bad and I've been vaping on and off for so long.

I've been vaping for so long. Is that why my memory sucks? I don't know. You know what they say, everything in moderation, right? Most vape pens contain the same amount of nicotine as 20 cigarettes or one standard pack of cigarettes. Oh shit.

So we're just getting hit with that. Our brain is probably like, what the fuck is going on, bro? So if you limit yourself to just a few puffs, it's still better than blowing through a bunch of cigarettes, I guess. The problem is it's so easy to quickly grab a hit of a vape.

Many people are inhaling as much as 200 times a day. And that's when things can, you know, take a deadly turn. This episode is crazy, right? I mean, who knew vaping had such an intense history? I mean, Paul over here got a little too inspired by the episode and he ended up injuring himself. Do you wanna tell them how, Paul over here got a little too inspired by the episode and he ended up injuring himself. Do you want to tell them how, Paul? Oh no, Paul?

No? No? Okay, well long story short, Paul was ripping so many fat clouds that he sprained his wrist. Now Paul, I highly suggest you see a doctor. I mean, you might not even be able to vape again. Is that what you want? Well, don't worry, Paul, because finding a doctor is easy. Thanks to ZocDoc. Hey, it's an ad.

ZocDoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare high quality in-network doctors and click to instantly book an appointment. Oh yeah. We're talking about booking in-network appointments with more than like over 100,000 doctors across every specialty from mental health to dental health to primary care to urgent care and like so much more. You can filter for doctors or specialists

who take your insurance, who are located nearby, who are a good fit for whatever need you may have, plus are highly rated by verified patients. Once you find the right doctor you can see their actual appointment openings, choose a time slot that works for you and click to instantly book a visit. Appointments made through ZocDoc also happen fast, typically within just 24 to 72 hours of booking, plus you can even score same day appointments.

Now I love ZocDoc because, one it's easy, two it takes all the intimidation out of booking a freaking appointment, and you don't waste time. Just show me the doctors that take my insurance. Is it that hard? Well ZocDoc makes it easy, I love that. Stop putting off those doctor appointments and go to ZocDoc makes it easy. I love that. Stop putting off those doctor appointments and go to zocdoc.com slash dark history to find and instantly book a top rated doctor today.

That's zocdoc, Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash dark history. Zocdoc.com slash dark history. In 2021, a 29 year old woman from Ohio named Jordan Brielle decided she wanted to quit smoking cigarettes. She had been smoking pretty heavily since she was a teenager and she was ready to quit. So she decided to give vaping a try. I mean, it seemed to be working for so many other people, right? You know, great.

So she picks one up, loves it. The flavors, the convenience, and not long after she started vaping, Jordan said that she became totally addicted. It was one addiction to another, you know? She said that she was spending around $500 a week to keep up with her vape habit. She was constantly hitting the vape pen. She said she would sleep with her pen, wake up,

hit that shit, go back to bed, and she would take a shower, hit it in the shower. She wasn't taking breaks, okay? In 2023, about two years after she started vaping, Jordan said that she started to feel a little off. She felt like she had this heaviness in her chest. She went to the hospital several times thinking maybe she had an infection or bronchitis. She also started to develop a horrible cough and she had little to no voice. Her body was swelling up from her ankles to her kneecaps and she could barely walk.

Her skin was turning gray, she was feeling confused, the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her and just would send her home. Everything came to a head in May of 2023 when Jordan's partner found her unresponsive in bed. She had a lack liquid, a lack liquid goo, pouring out of her nose and mouth. I guess at this time she was gasping and she couldn't catch her breath, she was still alive. Her partner called 911 and she was rushed to the hospital.

Once she got there, the staff scanned Jordan's lungs and found that they were badly damaged. Doctors had to pump two liters of fluid out of Jordan's lungs. Two liters, that's like a big bottle of Coke, you know? I guess the liquid that they had got out of her was like the vape juice. Cause when you think about it, if you vape,

cause I know you do, I know a lot of people vape, like it's the juice was in her. I know, I know. I'm gonna quit. Jordan said, quote, my body was trying to force out the vape juice inside my lungs, which was like concrete. It was pure black and bloody, end quote.

Okay. concrete. It was pure black and bloody." Jordan had to be placed in an 11-day long medically induced coma, but thankfully she survived. Jordan has permanent lung damage as a result of all of this, and she also suffered a minor brain injury due to lack of oxygen. Oh my God. She said quote, they told me if I'd waited any longer I wouldn't have been here. I haven't touched a vape since, end quote. Go for you, that must have been real scary.

Even though cases like Jordan's are rare, she isn't the only person we know of to be hospitalized because of her vaping habit. And a lot of people weren't as lucky as her. Around the time Jordan got sick, other strange illnesses started to take over the media. And maybe you saw this. A condition called e-valley, which is a lung injury that's associated with e-cigarettes or vaping. This name, E-Valley, was created because there was a surprising rise

in vape-related hospitalizations. E-Valley, what a name. It kind of reminds me of, do you guys play Animal Crossing? It sounds like a Animal Crossing island. I'm going to E-Valley. Send me your island codes. I'll come visit. Okay, I love Animal Crossing. Okay, so E-. Send me your island codes. I'll come visit. Okay.

I love Animal Crossing. Okay. So E Valley, bad, bad. There's not a whole lot known about E Valley. We do know patients went in with serious breathing issues. And most cases turned out to be related to something found in illegal weed vape pens called vitamin E acetate. Now weed vape pens called vitamin E acetate.

Now weed vape pens are different. I mean, there's the same concept, right? But you don't know what chemical you're getting in these vapes. When you hit and inhale the vitamin E in a vape pen form, it could create a highly toxic gas. There were around 2,800 cases and 68 deaths it could create a highly toxic gas. There were around 2,800 cases and 68 deaths.

Most of the cases were connected to illegal street-bought vape pens. And it does seem like they're trying to scare us a lot with vaping, but the reality is there's still a lot of background information missing when it comes or it came to like these cases. So people could have had health conditions that they didn't know they had before

vaping. Some people could have lung damage from smoking cigarettes and some people buy their vapes in shady places. I keep saying this when it comes toing, I feel like we are the test subjects. We really don't know long term what this is gonna do to us, but we're gonna find out, bitch, because a lot of people out there are vaping. If you look around, I don't know where you live, but where I live, everyone has a fucking vape in their hand, and we're vaping all the time. I vape all the time, it's disgusting and I hate it. And I wanna quit. I don't know how.

And it's like, I'm so good in my life, personally. Like I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I'm not promiscuous. Not that there's anything I would love to be, but like I don't do anything wild. Like vaping, I feel like is my one vice. And that's what, I'm like, well, we all have that one thing, like that's always my excuse, but shit, I would love to quit, you know?

Because we really don't know where this is gonna go. So, good luck to us is what I'm getting at. What's crazy to me is that all the vapes we talked about today have something in common. They followed the same design Herbert patented in 1963. We could say poor Herbert because he never saw like any money or any profit from that, but if it wasn't for Herbert, I mean, we wouldn't, we probably wouldn't be here. So pros and cons, pros and cons, I don't know.

Herbert wasn't bitter about it or anything though. In an interview, he said he was proud that he is at all associated with an invention that he believes helps people quit smoking. He said, quote, the only substantial thing I received was the satisfaction of saving millions of lives, end quote. Aw, see, that's so nice. And again, if you think about it,

vaping really only took off in the last decade, so... Stay tuned. I don't know, we might just be dropping like flies. Everyone always wants to fight with me in the comment section. There was another dark history we did where we mentioned popcorn lung, and the vape community came after me so hard, and I'm like, shut up. I vape too. For now, what we do know, vaping shouldn't be marketed towards kids,

especially because nicotine does some shit to your brain. You should definitely look into this a little bit more about the effects that nicotine has on your brain and it might make sense as to why you're feeling the way you are. Anxiety, impulsiveness, anger, can't sleep, shakiness, like it all comes from nicotine and if you're vaping a lot, it's probably that. Just letting you know.

And you don't want this to be on your kids because you want your kids to develop a full brain and then let your brain go to shit, okay? You know? So, and kids, they love this stuff. Well, according to most of the studies we have available to us today, vaping can be incredibly helpful if you want to stop smoking cigarettes.

Just know, as someone who has been doing this, you're just replacing one addiction to another, and I'm not trying to discourage you, just know just replacing one addiction to another and I'm not trying to discourage you, just know it's one addiction to another. Yeah, I know. Now, if you're like me and you're over it and you're ready to quit vaping, listen, good for you. I'm right there with you.

It's hard. So then I do nicotine gum and to help me like wean off of it, that seems to be working for me as long as I'm keeping my mouth busy. There are also medications you can ask your doctor about to help you quit. There's also a phone number you can call, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, or 1-877-44U-QUIT.

And you can call this number, talk with a counselor who can help you get this quitting process started which is nice or maybe you're like i hate calling people on the phone well you can actually chat with the national cancer institute at live help or you can text quit to 47848 if you need to get help it's better than suffering in silence, you know? I'm gonna call this number. I'm very curious to see what they have to say. Like, I love vaping. You know, when I tried to quit smoking originally

back in the day, you can tell me, like, there was nothing you can say to me to make me feel better at that time, you know? But I remember I came across this picture and it was of a human body. And it was like, here's what your lungs look like every day that you quit smoking. And it was like, after two weeks, this starts to grow.

After four weeks, this starts to grow. Like your weeks, this starts to grow. Like your lungs know how to repair themselves. So if you quit, like they, your lungs can fix itself. And I would read this chart and it always gave me motivation knowing like, okay, my lungs are now like doing this today. It kind of sounds stupid as I say it out loud, but it's also kind of reminds me of women

when they're pregnant and then they do those apps and it's like your baby's a pea. And then like the next day your baby's a mango. It was like that, but like your lungs are now this today. Your lungs are now that. And that was what really kept me going was having this visual element of what my lungs looked like. They could be lying, but like, I don't know.

That's what kept me going. And maybe I should do that lying, but like, I don't know, that's what kept me going and maybe I should do that again for vaping, I don't know. Stay tuned, I mean, maybe in a few years, we'll be doing another dark history of like, hey, vaping, that went wrong. And look, if you vape, I'm not here to judge. Okay, we're all just trying to make it through this life. I fucking get it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts though down below So let me know in the comment section. I've also heard about this new thing. It's not new God, what is it called? It's like chewing tobacco, but it comes in little pouches and you put it in your in your lip and You don't have to spit and kids are now really liking this So I think vaping might be phasing out and people are going to be going to this new lip thing it's called zen it's called zen parents just letting you know because kids are doing this it kind of looks they come in like a little like it could be mints who knows you open it up you put one of those in you don't even know it's

there they don't have to spit there's none of that nasty tobacco to it. It comes in a clear pouch, not sponsored. No, I haven't tried one, because I feel like it's just gonna be another addiction for me. And I don't wanna have to like lose my lips. But just letting you know, parents, this in, that's out there too.

Vaping, there's a lot. I don't know how you guys are raising kids out there, you gotta be aware on the social media, it's on the drugs that are out there are so different. The nicotines, the energy drinks. I... God be with you. Okay? Now after this episode, I personally am ready for a little escapism. And my personal favorite place to escape to? Disneyland. Specifically the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Now it's crazy that it started as a ride

and then they based a whole movie franchise off of it, right? And it was like super popular because people just, I guess are obsessed with pirates. People love pirates. And I discovered the pirates in real life are way more violent and sexual than even Captain Jack. And my favorite part, some of the most well-known pirates in history were women.

So join me for the dark history of pirates. By the way, we're dark next week, so there won't be a new upload, but we'll be back on March 12th. Hope to see you there. Well, friends, thanks for hanging out with me today. You can actually watch these episodes after the podcast airs on Thursday over on my YouTube.

Also, you can catch up on my murder mystery and makeup. I do that too. And while you're there, hit that subscribe button because again, I have something for you all the time. Now let's get to my favorite part. Let's read a couple of comments you guys have left me. Dylan Fell, 6975 said, Bailey, will you marry me? Dylan.

Okay, I got a couple questions for you. One, what's your credit score? Do you have a 401k? Do you have a savings? Do you have a careerk? Do you have a savings? Do you have a career? Where do you live? Are you, I'm not trying to be shallow, but like, if we went to a concert together,

would you be able to put me on your shoulders? If there was a fire in the house, would you be able to carry me out? How's your dental hygiene? Do you have any serious illnesses I should know about? What are your dreams? What are your goals? Are you good at Scrabble?

How do you sleep at night? Do you snore? Are you a bed hog? Do you like animals? Dylan, we can't just jump into this like this, you know? Like, we gotta get to know each other a little bit, you know? Is there a ring? If you come from money, you can skip

all those questions, go to the straight of the line and pick me up at 7, okay? Thank you. Hope to see you there. Ali Graham left us a fun fact saying, did you know that Google's original name was Back Rub? Okay, all right. Okay, Back Rub? Okay, okay. I'm trying to process this. So I'm glad they decided to pivot to Google because I think Google is more, it's catchy, it's good.

Back Rub sounds like something... It sounds creepy. It sounds like your creepy uncle coming up, rubbing your shoulders and you're sitting there like, okay, yeah Um back rub, it's a little too close to back page But you know, I want to do an episode on google. I really do. Um, yeah, we'll see though. They might kill me They own everything Okay. Well, thank you for that. I'm gonna look i'm gonna look that up because I'm very interested in how they came up with that name.

Back rub. Apocalypse Mouse. Love that. 473 left us an episode suggestion. Squirrel cage jails. Squirrel cage jails. Okay, okay, okay. Apocalypse Mouse, you are onto something.

Just found out a squirrel cage jail is a jail cell that would rotate in a circle constantly so prisoners couldn't talk to each other. Wow, that's really interesting. I am intrigued. Squirrel cage jail... Jail. I was over here thinking, have you ever heard of a blue squirrel? Well, blue squirrel, a lot of makeup brushes were made from blue squirrel.

They don't really do it so much anymore, but like, and that was like one of the best hairs you could get, blue squirrel. So I was thinking, oh, this is probably where they get all that hair from, but no, that was a pivot, okay. Well, thank you guys so much for watching and hanging out with me and always recommending episodes, suggestions. I love it so much. Make sure to leave a comment and maybe I will read yours. Wouldn't that be fun?

Okay. And hey, if you don't know, Dark History is an audio boom original. I wanna give a big special thank you to our expert Chelsea Boyd, epidemiologist and health policy thought leader. And I'm your host Bailey Sarian. I hope you have a good day, you make good choices, and I will be talking to you very soon. Goodbye!