Escaping Vaping

By: Tess Leuck

Vaping, or what is commonly called “Juuling”, has become a popular trend in the U.S. The appealing flavors and body of the product make it unique and attractive. This is especially becoming popular for teens and minors and is now considered by some an epidemic. 

The 5 companies Vuse, Blu, JUUL, MarkTen XL, and Logic take up more than 97% of the e-cigarette sales, so it has been easy to target the companies. JUUL has become the most popular. They were designed to be an alternative to smoking cigarettes or even help those addicted to smoking stop. Their mission is to “Improve the lives of the world’s one billion adult smokers.” Although this is their goal, health professionals and concerned family members believe these e-cigarettes are being overused by teens and minors. 

19-year-old Lauren Camp of Cedar Falls is a good example. She remembers, “I got a JUUL because all my friends had one and it was what everyone was doing for fun.”

Because of this growing concern, the JUUL Company states, “we want to be part of the solution to end combustible smoking, not part of a problem to attract youth, never smokers, or former smokers to nicotine products. We invest our time and resources in new ways to deliver Juul exclusively to adult smokers, and we welcome discussions on this topic.” 

One common reason smokers switch to e-cigarettes is because of the money they can save. Smoking can become expensive, and some spend thousands per year on cigarettes. A JUUL can be a much less expensive investment. The price of 4 pods is roughly $16, which is equivalent to 4 packs of cigarettes. Most packs of regular cigarettes cost more than one JUUL pod. This is also an encouragement for adults to quit smoking because of the money they could save by switching to JUUL. 

Vaping and using JUUl products can be a positive resource for adults wishing to quit smoking, but the question remains how will they reduce the issue in young adults? Science News for Students found a study that discovered nonsmoking teens who start vaping are three times as likely as nonvapers to later smoke cigarettes.

The Food and Drug Administration has recognized the youth e-cirgarette epidemic and issued more than 1,300 warning letters and fines to retailers who have sold JUUL and e-cigarettes to minors. This has been the largest coordinated enforcement effort in the FDA’s history. Along with fining businesses selling to minors, the FDA also targeted advertisers baiting in youth publications and making these nicotine products look appealing and completely safe to use. Not only was the advertising for these products straying away from their said focus, but the JUUL company was also caught sending promotional emails to minors.

Addiction. One of the biggest issues with vapor products is that teens don’t realize these appealing flavored e-cigarettes are actually addictive and there is indeed nicotine in them. This is why the FDA is pushing to make sure the advertising for these products is accurate and the labels are not misleading. University of Minnesota student Carli Sternberg admitted, “I like the buzz it gives me. It is addicting so I keep doing it because it helps when I am stressed.” 

What do teens think is in their e-cig? Many young users do not even know what is in the vaping product they are using. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported 66% of teens think it is just flavoring. 13.7% say they don’t know. It is quite alarming knowing over half of the teen JUUL users aren’t even aware of the amount of nicotine they’re putting into their body. 

So what exactly is in e-cigarettes? E-cigarettes contain nicotine, ultrafine particles, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds. There is a heating device within the e-cigarette which converts the liquid to vapor, and in many cases, delicious smelling and tasting vapor. Nicotine is a very toxic chemical, and was even once used to kill bugs. 

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, E-cigarettes can also cause brain risks. The brain is still growing until about age 25. The part of the brain that is still developing in teen years is also responsible for decision making. When you expose your brain to nicotine at a young age, this can cause long-term effects. The nicotine in e-cigarettes changes the way synapses are formed. This can be very harmful, especially for teens, because it can affect their learning. Synapses are formed between two nerve/brain cells to create connections through the learning. Young adults are more likely to become addicted to these products because addiction is a form of learning and the brain forms a connection with the nicotine. 

“Did JUUL lure teenagers and get ‘customers for life’?” The New York Times is one of many sources to do an article on the effects vaping has on young adults. It is being talked about nation-wide. In 2015, the same year JUUL’s began selling in stores, a video advertisement of young hip people holding JUUL’s was a marketing strategy for the product. They claim the campaign wasn’t targeted toward teens, but they were aware it could appeal to a younger crowd. They also said their original campaign is not promoting to minors because they made sure the models in the ad were 21 or older. To consumers, it was clear that the audience they were trying to reach was not age 40 plus smokers who needed an alternative to quit smoking. After controversy, bad marketing, and being blamed for trying to appeal to teenagers, the JUUL company started putting only adults age 35 and older in their ads. Another thing JUUL has done to fix their original marketing mistakes is change the flavors to more modest names. For example, “cool cucumber” was changed to cucumber and “cool mint” was changed to mint. 

Before JUUL was founded, the FDA banned all cigarettes with attractive flavors other than menthol. This was because it would appeal less to the teen and young adult audience. This ban did not apply to e-cigarettes, which is how JUUL was invented. With the epidemic apparent, JUUL may no longer be able to sell their flavored products in gas stations and stores. In order for this ban to go in effect, it will take going through a long, complicated process in court. The worry of this is that this will be a negative effect on adult smokers who are actually using the products to quit. The threat of this ban has made e-cigarette companies make plans to reduce and rid of marketing toward young adults, and also set higher security on purchasing products to avoid minors buying them. JUUL’s plan is to suspend store sales of its flavored pods, except mint, menthol, and tobacco, and to shut down its social media promotions. They also plan to toughen their online age-verification as it is currently not hard for a minor to access. 

Although e-cigarette products such as JUUL have made a negative impact on our youth, these products can also make a positive difference on the lives of adults who want to quit smoking. On the company website, they give many testimonials of individuals who have quit smoking due to switching over to the JUUL. 

One of their testimonials is of a woman named Lauren, age 33. Lauren was introduced to smoking at a very young age due to modeling and the business she was working in. Smoking was thought of as “sexy”. Now, as a mother, she wanted to quit. The JUUL products have helped her quit and have made the environment for her children healthier. Lauren said, “I’m constantly encouraging people to use this and not cigarettes.” 

Another testimonial from a man named Michael, age 64, shared his positive experience with JUUL. Michael was to the point where the first thing he did when he woke up was light a cigarette. He was introduced to JUUL from his friend, and it helped him quit smoking and he also liked that it didn’t have the smell regular cigarettes do. Michael said, “A smoker that’s looking for an alternative, my advice is to pick up a JUUL and try it.” JUUL has had a positive impact on former smokers, but their early marketing mistakes still gives the brand a bad name.

Brands such as JUUL are doing better at marketing their products correctly and trying to sway away from targeting teens, but this still has not solved the overall issue. 

Molly Holthaus is a North Fayette Valley High School teacher. She says, “I don’t necessarily think of Juuling and vaping as a concentrated problem. In small town America, it’s just one more stupid thing for kids to try to be cool. I think this is another phase that will pass.” 

JUUL and other e-cigarette brands have a burden on their shoulders for sure, and it is unknown what the future of the JUUL and other vaping products are. These products are meant for adults trying to quit smoking, not to hook young adults on nicotine.