Diary of a Gen Z Student: Popularity of vaping has us shrouded in a fruit-flavoured mist

Dublin’s streets are shrouded in fruit-scented fog, but it’s not dry ice—it’s vapes. From schoolyards to smoking areas, flavoured air is the new must-have

28th February, 2024. Trinity College student and Irish Examiner columnist Jane Cowan photographed at her home in Dunshaughlin, County Meath.Photo:Barry Cronin

"Ah, thank God. It’s great to see kids taking a break from the technology. No phone in sight. Nature must be healing,” I say as a 12-year-old puffing away on a strawberry ice flavoured lithium battery walks past me in town. 

They’ve probably taken the pledge for their confirmation. But the pioneers are yet to include the words ‘Lost Mary’ in the T&Cs of their membership.