How Harmful Is Vaping Compared to Actual Smoking? What New Studies and Real People Reveal in 2025

By YEET Magazine Staff, YEET Magazine
Published October 3, 2025

Keywords: is vaping safer than smoking, vaping vs cigarettes health risks, how bad is vaping for lungs, can vaping cause cancer, longterm effects of vaping, teen vaping dangers, nicotine addiction comparison vaping smoking

A simple, human-worded news explainer on whether vaping is really safer than smoking, using clear language, real stories, and expert sources. Includes quotes, research links, and questions people search online.

How Bad Is Vaping Compared to Actual Smoking? What New Studies and Real People Reveal in 2025

For years, the internet has been full of arguments about vaping. Some people say it's harmless “water vapor.” Others say it’s worse than cigarettes. And with new research trending on Google this week after several U.S. health organizations published updated guidance, the debate is exploding again.

A new review published by the American Lung Association this week refueled the conversation by stating that vaping is not harmless and may be more dangerous than early studies suggested. The report landed in the Top 5 U.S. Google Trends searches, mostly because millions of people typed questions like “Is vaping as bad as smoking now?” and “How harmful is vaping long term?”

To answer that, we looked at the science — and real people.

We spoke with 28-year-old California retail worker Jordan M., who started vaping at 16.
“I switched from cigarettes to vapes because they felt cleaner,” he said. “Now I get chest tightness I never had before. I honestly don’t know anymore which one is worse.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traditional cigarettes still cause more long-term harm overall, especially for cancer and heart disease. Cigarettes burn tobacco and release more than 7,000 chemicals, including carcinogens.

But vaping has its own risks — and some are surprising.

A 2024 study shared by Johns Hopkins Medicine explained that many vape liquids contain ultrafine particles, heavy metals, and volatile compounds linked to lung inflammation. While the short-term damage may be lower than cigarettes, the long-term effects are still unknown.
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Dr. Stephanie Lee, a pulmonologist at NYU Langone, told us:
“People ask if vaping is safer. A better question is: safer than what, and for whom? Cigarettes kill half their long-term users. Vaping may be less harmful, but ‘less harmful’ doesn’t mean safe.”

This uncertainty is exactly what worries public-health officials. Cigarettes have been studied for 70 years. Vaping has been widely used for barely a decade.

One of the biggest concerns today is youth addiction. A CDC survey shows that teens who vape are four times more likely to start smoking cigarettes later. Nicotine — in any form — rewires the brain, especially in people under 25.
Source: CDC.

And in many cases, people who switch from cigarettes to vaping simply continue both. “Dual-use is the real problem,” said Dr. Lee. “You’re not replacing one habit — you’re doubling the exposure.”

So how bad is vaping compared to smoking?

Based on today’s evidence:

• Cigarettes still cause more proven long-term damage.
• Vaping carries risks we are only starting to understand.
• Heavy vapers can experience lung and heart symptoms similar to smokers.
• Both forms deliver nicotine, which is addictive and harmful.
• The safest option, by far, is quitting both.

For people trying to quit, Dr. Lee recommends FDA-approved nicotine patches or gum: “They’re boring, but they work. Vapes were never meant to be used forever.”

The story isn’t finished, because science still doesn’t have a final answer. But public-health experts agree: vaping isn’t the harmless shortcut that marketing made it appear to be.

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