Juul, Aleksandra Sus

Juul

Aleksandra Sus

The JUUL was the first rechargeable vaping device that gained its popularity, as its colourful flavours caught the eyes of many young people. Initially vapes were made to help smokers quit cigarettes, but ironically, they attracted more people and ended up being just as addictive as cigarettes. A JUUL looks very similar to a thumb drive. The JUUL is rechargeable and comes with cartilages you change, referred to as "pods". The cartilages are usually sold by flavour, most commonly in a pack of four. Some popular flavours include: mango, blue raspberry, crème Brule, mint, fruit, even classic tobacco and so on. The level of nicotine differs depending on the buyer's preference. Most commonly the strength purchased was 5.0 percent of nicotine. Due to its attractive flavours, they didn't carry any type of bad smell like cigarettes. Thus, it was very easy to hide such an object. Vaping in your bedroom, in school bathrooms, in public spaces was seen as the norm. No one even thought about secondhand smoke because "it just didn't smell bad". It was very normal to enter a bathroom in high school and have teenagers passing around their Juul or any vaping device. Many even secretly smoked in class as the smoke can be easily inhaled through the lungs thus not be released. Even more common was to have Juuls at social gathering or parties. Vaping and drinking went hand-in-hand, if you drank you smoked. For those that did not smoke marijuana, they vaped when they partied. This was the standard picture of what being social as a Gen Z youth looked like, and still does. In more recent times, many began to speak up about the dangers of vaping. Vaping using has increased by 900% amongst middle schoolers and high schoolers. Many have been hospitalized for excessive vaping in which they shared their stories on social media platforms encouraging young people not to vape. Thus, the recent outbreak of lung injuries raises severe concerns in for our current generation. After this news reached the media, the brand JUUL themselves were pressured to stop producing flavoured pods to decline youth vaping rates in Canada by public health advisers. You can now only purchase tobacco and mint flavoured pods for a Juul, for a hope in appeal decline. Unfortunately, after that occurrence, more brands became more commonly used and continued to make these eye-catching flavours. Vaping continues to be a very serious issue for adolescence health. This toxic culture often seems unescapable, as many who are aware of the consequences are peer pressured into trying the product. Yet, due to its highly addictive substance, "trying it" turns into vaping daily. Moreover, it is commonly said between young people that vaping triggers their anxiety. With anxiety and stress being such a common aspect in most young people's lives, vaping not only is extremely bad for one's physical health but their mental. Many young people will ignore the dangerous of it as there “aren’t that many cases”. It is unfortunate how many young people are at health risk with not many quitting and more starting to vape. It is not surprising that young people, especially at the ages of 18 and younger are influenced, it really shows how carefree they are at that age, and do not give it the time of day to think about the possible consequences. The peer pressure to smoke and drink will continue to happen regardless of if health administrators will provide proof of danger. Just as smoking cigarettes is still common regardless of being 30 times more likely to die than someone who does not. It makes it even more prominent of how severe addiction really is, as even knowing the dangers does not stop smoking from happening. I believe the rise of e-cigarettes is this generations version of cigarette smoking. Many young people will get addicted and carry on their addiction till health problems occur. It is our duties as educators to try and best and provide detailed dangerous to discourage youth at schools not to vape as physical and mental health is at risk.

Academic: Resources

King, Brian A., et al. "The EVALI and Youth Vaping Epidemics — Implications for Public Health." The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 382, no. 8, 2020, pp. 689-691. ProQuest,https://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly -journals/evali-youth-vaping-epidemics-implications-public/docview/2358741790/se-2, doi:https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp1916171. Non-academic:

“Focus on Your Reasons to Quit.” Smokers Helpline, Canadian Cancer Society, https://smokershelpline.ca/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=O N_Sept_Nov_2022&gclid=CjwKCAjwtp2bBhAGEiwAOZZTuCcfzhSb1aSPMRBJhEM 6Jf1mFCHnC3l5U3d_lNlSfyHuw7GNjnvp-xoC8w0QAvD_BwE.