All across the country, the trend of Juuling is becoming a problem for the heath of teenagers and for the safety of schools. To make matters worse, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently launched an investigation into Juul, the company which makes the vape pens, charging San Francisco-based company has been advertising specifically to teenagers.
At Oliver Ames High School, students responded to what they thought about the investigation and the popularity of vaping at the high school.
“Unfortunately I am never surprised what businesses will do to make a profit,” said Mr. Paul, the principal of Oliver Ames High School. “This is a deliberate effort to get students and young people addicted to nicotine, and later on in life, perhaps more harmful substances as well.”
The FDA states in their press release that Juul has been marketing to teenagers for years by making flavors named such as “cool cucumber” and “creme brulee”. They are also said to use vibrant, attractive colors and neon shades in their products and advertisements in order to deceive teenagers. Worst of all, the nicotine content in each Juul pod, which provides the “juice” for the vape pen, is as concentrated as an entire pack of cigarettes.
“We don’t know what’s in it,” said Kate McCormick, a Sophomore at Oliver Ames. “There’s no long term studies done to show the impact and effects.”
Recent studies find that inhaling the vaporized liquid can coat the interior of the lungs with water, which leads to smokers cough, also known as “popcorn lung”. The raspy coughing can then cause further scarring of lung tissue, especially to the developing bodies of teenagers.
“I’m not surprised”, said Ryan Tamasanis, a Senior at Oliver Ames when asked about Juul advertising to teenagers. “It’s just like cigarettes. They already saw the effect of cigarettes in years past so why would it be different. Its the exact same situation.”
Although Juul is forced to display warnings about their products in their advertisements about nicotine content and the risks associated with using it, teenagers still are able to get their hands on this unregulated product and although the warnings about the product are repeatedly stated, many teenagers refuse to believe that the product contains anything harmful.
Graph Courtesy of The Anti Drug Community, a group of local administrators, community leaders, and government officials based out of Highland Park, Illinois
Besides the use of the Juul, the sign that teenagers are recognizing the harmful effects is step forward for the administrators, parents, and teachers who want to see it eradicated from the schools of their students and children. Despite all the concern, time will tell if the teenagers themselves will, or will not, see to it that the Juul will just become another fad from long ago.
You can find the FDA press release by clicking here.