SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Many millennials will remember the joys of playing Pac-Man and Tetris on their flip phones, and today’s youth are also enjoying these “retro-style” games… on their vaping devices. Researchers are worried about it.
Vaping devices, known as e-cigarettes or “vapes,” are battery-powered devices that people use to inhale aerosols, often of nicotine, per the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
One example of a vape-gaming device is the Big D Vapor “Craftbox V-Play 20K Disposable Vape with Built in Gaming System” sold from around $18 to $30. According to the Big D Vapor website, the device is the “ultimate vaping experience” and has a built-in “Vapentertainment system” that “includes three retro games.”
In the “Pac-Man on a vape” research paper recently published in the Tobacco Control journal, University of California, Riverside, scientists argue that the devices target young consumers
“Because the products are user friendly and attractive to youth, they may couple nicotine addiction with gaming disorder, the researchers caution,” said a press release from the university.
As of 2023, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product among middle and high school students in the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It said that nearly 5% of middle school students and 10% of high school students used e-cigarettes.
“Of particular concern to the researchers is that coupling nicotine to existing youth behaviors, such as video gaming and screen time use, could broaden the smart electronic cigarette market to include youth with no prior interest in nicotine products, while also reinforcing nicotine addiction among current users,” said study press release.
Vapes that contain nicotine are highly addictive and the substance can be a health danger for pregnant people and youth, the CDC said. Aerosols from e-cigarettes also contain potentially harmful substances, including cancer-causing chemicals.
“Our lab is constantly monitoring the electronic cigarette market for new devices, especially ones that target youth and young adults,” said Man Wong, first author of the recent paper and an assistant in the lab of Prue Talbot, a professor of the graduate division. He cited the Craftbox vape device and others as a concern.
Both researchers believe that the devices need to be more closely monitored and regulated. Talbot explained that they have become more elaborate and complicated in just a few years.
In addition to the devices with games, there are “vapes with animations that change as users puff, vapes that have built-in bluetooth and can be customized with personal photos, and vapes with celebrity endorsements that offer promotional trading cards,” said Wong. Some of the games even require users to vape in order to progress through the gameplay.
“One game contains a virtual pet, which you feed with coins that you acquire by vaping; another game counts your puffs and has leaderboards, which you can submit your rankings to social media for a chance to win prizes,” Wong explained.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
By combining nicotine with these other elements, these devices prey on multiple potential addictions at once, Wong and Talbot said. These include gaming disorder and screen time obsession, along with creating more waste. They hope their research will encourage further regulation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“In the long-term, increasing awareness of how vapes can evolve in short periods of time can increase surveillance and monitoring to ensure products that are targeting youth are swiftly removed from the market,” Talbot said. “More strict regulation can be put into place to restrict some features of vapes, and it may even be appropriate to push for a disposable vape ban altogether, as some countries have.”
DOWNLOAD the Audacy App
SIGN UP and follow KCBS Radio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram