What Is The 'Cartdemic,' And Will The Zoomers Be Okay? The Slang Term And Controversy Explained

By all accounts, 2019-2021 was a wild time in history. You probably know about the COVID-19 pandemic, but at the same time another "-demic" was ravaging the world — the "cartdemic."

Between 2019 and 2021, a variety of THC vaping products were on sale, reportedly without much regulation, in the North American market.

A high proportion of Generation Z claim to have smoked these cartridges (shortened to "carts") and now many are reporting the consequences of the "cartdemic."

Let's explain the history, symptoms, and long-term effects of the so-called "cartdemic."

How Did The Cartdemic Start?

It has been possible to vape THC for a long time, but in the late 2010s, as the drug became increasingly legal in the United States, the market for it expanded. In 2019, illicit THC vapes were linked to lung illness largely because of additives in the oil for black market products.

Nevertheless, vaping THC, which is more discreet than other ways of smoking, became increasingly popularized among young people. Memes involving dab pens and similar ways of smoking were commonplace in the late 2010s through the early 2020s.

A few years after the heyday of vape culture (although some would argue we are still living in peak vape usage), many Generation Z people on TikTok are reminiscing. The first notable post describing the "cartdemic" was posted in the spring of 2023.

What Are The Symptoms?

According to TikTok, the primary marker of a cartdemic victim is a slowness in speaking, sometimes accompanied by a stutter.

As explained by @tyixon below, cartdemic victims haven't necessarily gotten "dumber," but they have maybe gotten slower at mental processing or less able to fluidly put their thoughts into words.

Other TikTok commentators have used an audio clip talking about a "language barrier" to describe communication between cartdemic victims and people who did not use THC vapes between 2019 and 2021.

How Do People Post About The Cartdemic?

Usually, people will post videos of themselves standing inside and alone talking about having difficulty with their speech due to the cartdemic. Generally, the audio is lip-synched to something already trending on the app.

The connection to cartdemic is explained with a text caption placed over the video. There's also, arguably, a certain amount of melodrama, with people overemphasizing effects and calling it a "-demic" (as in, "pandemic") to draw attention to the trend.

For the full history of the Cartdemic, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.