5 Vaping Facts You Need to Know Johns Hopkins Medicine Vaping isn't harmless. Early nicotine use can harm brain development, affect how nerve cells work, and increase the risk of addiction. Young people who vape are 4x more likely to start smoking Many young people who vape did not smoke cigarettes before they started vaping. But young people who vape are more likely to start smoking cigarettes than those who never vape. For help Is vaping more harmful than smoking cigarettes? More people incorrectly think so: Newsroom UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas