vaping

February 2026

by Jermaine Galloway

Vape devices have evolved into highly customizable, low-cost products delivering unprecedented nicotine doses, making addiction easier, harder to detect, and more common especially among youth.

High in Plain Sight: What Today’s Vape Devices Are Really Delivering

Vape pens remain one of the fastest-evolving drug trends in the United States and worldwide. Their popularity especially, among youth continues to rise, including within school environments. While many people assume vapes contain only nicotine, what we are increasingly seeing is far more complex: extremely high nicotine doses, thousands of inhalations per device, and prices low enough to make them attractive & accessible to young users.

Written by: The Tall Cop

As we dive into 2024 there is something already clear, the over-the-counter drug market has plenty of “legal” items they are promoting. Let’s start the conversation with vapes.  During recent scans in states in the Southwest and on the West Coast, I have noticed the number of hits in vapes being sold. Most commonly, the 7,000-10,000 range. This is not new to the market, but the prices of these products have reduced or held steady. As the amount of “hits” goes up so should the pricing, however, that is not the case. Meanwhile, the amount in the 10,000 - 15,000 range (yes, I said 15k hits) vapes available has increased. To put this in context, just before the pandemic a commonly purchased vape product or pod was around 200-300 hits.  Now, you are lucky if you find anything that low. Most are well into the thousands which gives more insight into what schools are now dealing with.