About

Vaping is the practice of vaporizing plant materials like cannabis and tobacco for inhalation. Vaporizing devices are commonly used by those who wish to diminish the harmful effects of smoking by inhaling vapor created without combustion.

History

In 1963, inventor Herbert Gilbert designed the first electronic cigarette using a battery-powered heat source (shown below). In an interview with ECigaretteDirect,^[1] Gilbert speculated that his electronic cigarette was never put into production due to pressures from the tobacco industry.

In the late 1970s, computer entrepreneur Jon Phillip Ray invented the "Favor Smoke-Free Cigarette." His physician Dr. Norman Jacobson ran a trial on the device, and subsequently described the use of the e-cigarette as "vaping."^[2] In the mid-1990s, the first marijuana vaporizes were popularized in Canada and the Netherlands.^[7] In 2003, Chinese medical researcher Hon Lik manufactured the first modern electronic cigarette in Beijing, China. Subsequent designs by Lik began exporting internationally in 2006.

Online Presence

On March 31st, 2004, Urban Dictionary^[6] user SweeperOfDreams submitted an entry for the term "Vape," defining it as a slang term for vaporizing devices used to smoke marijuana and tobacco. On January 17th, 2010, the /r/Vaping^[3] subreddit was launched for discussions about vaping practices. On September 2nd, 2013, YouTuber 1O1Films posted a video titled "Vapers Be Like," featuring various comedy sketches mocking vaporizer enthusiasts (shown below, left). On May 4th, 2014, YouTuber PDX1K uploaded a video demonstrating various smoke tricks performed with a vaporizer, which gained over 2.9 million views and 1,700 comments in the next two years (shown below, right).

On November 12th, an article titled "10 Facts That Everyone Gets Wrong About Vaping" was published on the listicle site Listverse.^[5] On March 17th, 2015, Redditor quagdingo77 submitted a GIF of a man vaping in a car with loud speakers to the /r/oddlysatisfying subreddit, where it garnered more than 4,600 votes (90% upvoted) in seven months.

On August 16th, 2015, the ASAPScience YouTube channel posted a video explaining the differences between smoking and vaping, receiving over 2.4 million views and 5,200 comments in two months (shown below). On October 8th, Redditor Creamofcelery submitted a post titled "Why do I keep hearing people make fun of vaping?" to the /r/OutOfTheLoop^[4] subreddit, where is received upwards of 2,500 votes (90% upvoted) and 800 comments in the first two weeks.

Search Interest

External References