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. 

A jaunt through St Stephen’s Green in town these days would have you believe Dublin City council is using dry ice machines as our latest tourist attraction. 

But you would be wrong. Really, the reason you find yourself traversing thick, fruit scented fog is because you’re walking through vape central.

Everyone’s doing it. Vaping, that is. Nightclubs have vapes in their vending machines. Kids are asking for them for their birthday. Almost every young person has one rolling around in the bottom of their bag somewhere.

It can feel a little dystopian. I’d be unsettled if I found myself able to see more than two feet in front of my face while sitting upstairs on a bus in Dublin, or if I walked into the smoking area of a pub and didn’t see a group of people huddled together playing pass the vape. 

Our nights out start off with everyone making sure they’re stocked on vapes for the night, before they even consider what they might be drinking. 

The priority tends to be making sure no one inhales unscented air. Nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide? Those are so 2024. If the air you breathe is unflavoured, you’re so behind the times.

People think vaping is only something that is used to smooth over the transition for someone attempting to give up smoking. Maybe that used to be the case. 

But to sell to people my age, the appeal must be something more than an alternative to smoking. We’re the generation that grew up being told not to smoke. So, most of us have never been big smokers.

Of course, some people vape for that reason. But my experience has been that vaping exists in a separate category for people my age. Plenty of people just enjoy the taste of it, and the nicotine certainly helps with that. 

Let’s be honest about it, companies that produce vapes are not concerned about the health of their consumers. They’re not worried about helping people embark on any sort of health journey. For one thing, we know that vaping is far from being a healthy activity.

For another, cherry-, strawberry-, or mango-flavoured vapes are an excellent way of targeting a market of people that aren’t trying to quit cigarettes. With so many flavours to choose from it nearly feels like chewing gum.

And a quick stroll through town will show you that the marketing works. Spend a few hours in Trinity College and you’ll observe congregations of people taking vape breaks during their study session.

Saying all of that, I’m part of a rare cohort of young people that doesn’t tend to partake in flavoured air. 

Maybe I’m just a superior person. Or maybe I’d rather spend my spare cash on new shoes and posh croissants. I’m not too sure how I came to find myself in this position. 

Perhaps it’s that I want to suck up to my doctor any time I go for a check-up. “No doc, I’d never vape. Only drink in moderation unless I’ve got a good reason not to. But please don’t ask me about the last time I did cardio. Frankly, it was probably during lockdown. And I can’t bring myself to relive those dark days.”

Maybe vaping is just a trend and it’ll disappear as quickly as it came into our lives. Though it does seem to be taking over in practically every age demographic. 

Its dual identity as smoking alternative and cool hobby for young people has really allowed it to cover all its bases. 

But when you see kids that haven’t sat the junior cert taking the edge off with a flavoured battery, it appears that something has gone very wrong. 

And judging by the popularity of vaping, we will be waiting a long time for someone to come up with a new, marketable replacement for it.

Until then, every stroll through St Stephen’s Green will feel like you’re the star of some bizarre music video. 

Seagulls swooping in and out of shot. Kids in their confirmation attire sustaining the atmospheric strawberry mist.