A Dangerous Trend

   Juuls, e-cigarettes, and vapes are popular among teenagers and young adults today. Studies in 2018 show 1 in 5 students own an e-cigarette or juul. These products are advertised as safe and healthy ways to quit smoking but still have serious repercussions.

    Vapes and e-cigarettes should not be smoked by anyone, including smokers, teenagers, and students, because the health hazards are still widely unknown. 

   Vaping is not an effective way to quit smoking. Traditional cigarettes contain the addictive chemical nicotine. Vapes and e-cigarettes can contain just as much, if not more nicotine than a traditional cigarette. One juul pod can hold up to 20 cigarettes worth of nicotine. Not only can someone have an unhealthy addiction to cigarettes, but also an addiction to e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are also not FDA approved as a smoking cessation; therefore, vapes and e-cigarettes should not be used to quit smoking. 

    The target audience for juuls and vapes are not only current tobacco users but young adults and teenagers.  Even though more teens use the nicotine free vapes, the chemicals found in them are just as harmful. One chemical known to be in almost all vaping products is diacetyl. Diacetyl causes an irreversible lung disease that can lead to death and can affect brain development. A human brain is in a continuous state of development until approximately age 25. So a 13 year old who vapes regularly can greatly disrupt the adulthood state of the brain. Juuls and e-cigarettes also can contain nickel, tin, lead, flavorants, and ultrafine particles that can seep into the lungs. Doctors and scientists do not know the long term effects of these chemicals, so there is no way to know if something inhaled can be potentially deadly.

   Some studies show that vaping is safer than cigarettes, however the chemicals juuls and vapes have proved to be an addictive substance with a wide mix of chemicals. Juuls do not even cause a “high” because they have psychedelic materials in them, but are popular in high schools and junior highs. A students future health is not worth them being temporarily “trendy”. 

   Juuls, vapes, and e-cigarettes are all harmful substances that are advertised as safe. They contain harmful chemicals and are not a practical way to quit smoking. The safest way for youth and adults to avoid cigarette addiction is to live smoke free not to juul their way into a different addiction.