Cigarettes were huge in America during the 1950s and 60s; almost every public place allowed anyone to smoke at any time, even high schools had smoking sections! Obviously, times have changed. When the discovery that cigarettes are connected to lung cancer was confirmed, many things shifted. Advertisements against smoking became more popular, warnings on cigarette packs were issued, and laws were being passed to designate smoking sections in many more public places. The rate of people who smoked cigarettes decreased steadily, and is still decreasing today. However, there has been another shift. More people, especially teens and younger adults, are turning to vaping and e-Cigarettes. The percentage of young people who Juul or vape has increased significantly. This modern day shift is due to the invention of vapes, Juuls, e-Cigarettes, etc., along with a more accessible way to target teens: social media. The shift of cigarettes started in the 1950s and the percentage of cigarette smokers is reaching its lowest levels today, while the shift of using smokeless tobacco began in 2016 and is still continuing today.

I chose to research and write about the double paradigm shift regarding cigarettes and vapes because it is something that Penn State students, along with almost all other teenagers and young adults, have experienced first hand. People Juul at parties, in their dorms, even while walking to class; we see it everywhere. This is something that I know this audience can relate to, because we all know at least one person who owns a vape. This shift needs to be explored and researched because, in a sense, history is repeating itself here. People think vaping is healthier than cigarettes, similar to how people in the 1950s didn’t realize that smoking is extremely hazardous to their health. By researching and bringing awareness to this topic, people may be able to understand that we have made similar mistakes like this before with cigarettes, so why continue to do this?  Overall, I feel that this topic is relevant, interesting, and informative to my audience, and I am excited to research more about it!