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When vaping first took off at Gracey Mungulu's school, she was vocal about the fact she found it as repulsive as smoking.
"I literally used to tell people like, 'Er, why are you doing that?'" she says.
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she → publish → that
But Gracey says the habit became so common among her classmates that by the age of 16 she too had taken it up, even though the first time left her coughing rather than inhaling.
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time → say → her
"The more you see it, the more you start trying it a bit more," Gracey says, "and then eventually I just got used to it and I was just doing it all the time."
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I → see → it
Now 21, she buys a refillable vape every day, using it whenever her hands aren't busy with her work as a hairdresser and in a school.
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hands → buy → school
Gracey is among the more than one million people in the UK who say they have never smoked but now vape, according to recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey data – and that number has risen year-on-year.
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number → say → year
When vaping first came to the market it was seen as a way to help smokers quit cigarettes.
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smokers → come → cigarettes
Vaping nicotine, a highly addictive substance, is less harmful than cigarettes, but the long-term effects are not yet clear, according to the NHS.
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effects → vape → NHS
So why are people like Gracey, who have never smoked a cigarette, taking it up?
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who → smoke → it
The Londoner believes vaping helps when she's feeling socially anxious.
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she → believe → ?
"It's the hand action," she says, "just having something in your hand, just having something in your mouth.
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she → say → mouth
Like cigarettes Gracey's vape contains nicotine, a highly addictive substance that triggers withdrawal symptoms like irritability and anxiety when it leaves your system.
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it → contain → system
Vaping has become a "mindless action," she says.
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she → become → ?
When she answers the call to talk to BBC News for this article, Gracey says that without thinking about it, she had been lying in bed, with her vape in one hand, and her other hand scrolling Instagram.
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hand → answer → Instagram
The habitual aspect of regular vaping is something GP Dr Helen Wall hears a lot from her patients.
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Wall → hear → patients
"It's that kind of psychological dependence on something else to almost regulate their emotions," she says.
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she → regulate → emotions
Like Gracey, Malin Andersson, who vaped until recently, says her habit went hand in hand with doomscrolling.
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habit → vape → doomscrolling
She had also tried cigarettes but never considered herself a smoker.
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herself → try → cigarettes
At 33, she falls in the age range most likely to vape.
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she → fall → range
The ONS report suggests nearly one in six people aged 25-34 in the UK may use e-cigarettes daily or occasionally.
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people → suggest → cigarettes
The domestic abuse campaigner and former Love Island contestant started vaping when she was going through a stressful break-up and looking for comfort.
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she → start → comfort
She believes it was the physical action that got her hooked.
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her → believe → ?
"It's a dopamine hit," Malin says.
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Malin → say → ?
She says it was dulling her senses and leaving her demotivated.
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it → say → her
Malin became so frustrated with how reliant she had become on her banana ice-flavoured vape that she quit in May this year.
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she → become → May
"It was annoying me so much that it was always in my hand that I'd end up throwing it across the room," she says.
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she → annoy → room
Alex, from Manchester, also gradually formed a vaping habit, which started after she occasionally vaped on nights out and then began to take the vapes home.
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she → form → vapes
The 26-year-old, who didn't want to give her last name, says the habit would become such a constant part of her life that she would work while "lying in my bed with my laptop in front of me and then my vape on my chest".
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she → want → chest
Prof Sarah Jackson, from the University College London Alcohol and Tobacco Research Group, points out that while "alarm bells" may ring at the recent ONS figures, it could be the case that some of the people in this group would have started smoking if they hadn't started vaping.
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they → point → group
"In which case, vaping has diverted them away from a more harmful behaviour, which is good news," she says.
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she → divert → behaviour
"On the other hand, there will be people that are being exposed to more risk than they would have otherwise."
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they → expose → risk
She points to a 2024 study from UCL researchers that found nicotine use had risen among young adults in England, although cigarette smoking had declined.
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smoking → point → England
"We can infer from that that some of the people who are vaping wouldn't have smoked otherwise," Jackson says.
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Jackson → infer → people
The ONS report says about 5.4 million people aged 16 and over vape in Britain, while the number of smokers of all ages continues to steadily fall.
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number → say → ages
Some 4.9 million adults in the UK smoke.
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adults → smoke → UK
The UK is aiming to cut smoking rates and reduce the appeal of vaping among children and young people.
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UK → aim → children
The marketing of vapes - which has featured bright colours and sweet flavours - is being looked at, with a recent government consultation on new measures expected to give a response in due course.
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consultation → feature → course
Within the 1.1 million vapers who never smoked, "there probably is a group who would not be vaping [without] the marketing of vaping which is very prominent", says Hazel Cheeseman from charity Action on Smoking and Health.
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Cheeseman → smoke → Smoking
The NHS warns non-smokers and those aged 17 and under to never vape, while it's illegal for anyone under 18 to buy vapes.
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anyone → warn → vapes
Disposable vapes - seen as a key driver in the rise of youth vaping – were banned last year.
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vapes → see → vaping
Wall says the heavy marketing of vapes in recent years has helped to fuel a "misconception" that they are "safe and not addictive".
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they → say → misconception
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
