The first death with a link to vaping has recently occurred in Illinois. It is no longer a mere hypothesis that these e-cigarettes, in fact, lead to serious illnesses.

People should avoid vaping and Juuling until doctors and scientists research and determine exactly what must cause unknown illnesses associated with e-cigarettes.

People are still not heeding these warnings.

Now more than ever people should understand which products can damage bodies. Specifically, teenagers who have their whole life ahead of them should realize the consequences of their actions.

Although using e-cigarettes may seem fine at that moment and users may not notice symptoms, it is only a matter of time before scientists and doctors release proof of the direct link that vaping has with some unknown illnesses.

Originally released to allegedly help control addiction, e-cigarettes wound up provoking nicotine use and in younger audiences than expected.

When e-cigarettes such as Juuls and vapes were first introduced, companies promoted the product as less harmful and toxic to the human body than actual cigarettes.

But is this true?

E-cigarettes have been on the scene for around 15 years, but Juuls (which tend to attract teens) have only been around for two years. The long-term ­­effects of electronically smoking and the impact it may have on the human body had not yet been researched. Yet within the past month, hundreds of cases of mysterious illnesses have been released and professionals have speculated they may have been caused by vaping.

According to The Washington Post, there are 450 cases of an unknown illness that could potentially be linked to vaping within 33 states.

In today’s day and age, people pay attention to their health.

Organic vegetables and fruits are produced, and healthy restaurants have popped up all over the USA.

When it comes to food, people care about what they eat, its production, calories, and grams of sugar. But when it comes to chemicals that could lead to cancer and possibly death, some people do not seem to care.

Teenagers specifically do not seem to listen to these warnings.

The diseases are sugar-coated by flavors such as tutti-frutti and bubblegum. Produced in vibrant color packaging, such as lime green and neon yellow, companies target the product towards a teenage audience.

As the generation predicted to live the longest, Generation Z is not putting in effort to keep themselves alive.

Sure, growing up, kids learned to fear cigarettes and the effects they have on the body. However, since e-cigarettes are relatively new, kids initially may not have been warned about smoking these electronic versions.

But now that attention has been brought to the forefront, why are cigarettes still portrayed as dangerous while Juuls and vapes effects are trivialized and practically ignored?

Dismissing these recent warnings from doctors and the Centers for Disease Control, people continue to feed their nicotine addiction.

How many deaths must occur before people start to listen?